With the score tied 1-1 in overtime, the United States women’s hockey team found themselves locked in a pitched Olympic battle with longtime rival Canada. One clean look at the net would decide it.
When the opportunity came, U.S. defenseman Megan Keller made a quick move to the backhand and lifted the puck past the goaltender, sealing a 2-1 victory and sending her teammates spilling over the boards in celebration. The gold medal belonged to the United States.
The Feb. 19 win drew an average of 5.3 million viewers on NBC — peaking at 7.7 million during overtime — making it the most-watched women’s hockey game on record.
For the Bishop Kearney High School community in Irondequoit, a suburb of Rochester, New York, the moment carried special meaning. Five of the players wearing red, white and blue once walked the halls of this small Catholic school:
Haley Winn (Class of 2021), a Rochester native, played as a defenseman at Bishop Kearney before continuing her career at Clarkson University. She now plays in the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) for the Boston Fleet.
Laila Edwards (Class of 2022), a forward-turned-defenseman at
