Running Olympic rings around foes

U.S. women untouchable again in rout of Sweden to set up final with Canada

- KEVIN BAXTER

Photographs by ROBERT GAUTHIER Los Angeles Times TEAM USA PLAYERS huddle up after beating Sweden 5-0, which ran their shutout streak to an Olympic-record 331-plus minutes.

For the U.S. women's hockey team, the Milan-Cortina Olympic tournament has been less a competition and more a siege.

With Monday's 5-0 semifinal victory over Sweden, the U.S. is unbeaten in six games, has outscored its opposition 31-1 and hasn't given up a goal since the second period of its first game, running its shutout streak to more than 331 minutes, the longest in tournament history.

"The best team in the world," Sweden's Hanna Olsson said.

"They are really good." Nobody was arguing with that assessment because the Olympics have been more one-sided than an avalanche for the U.S. Fifteen different Americans have scored, 11 have multiple goals. The U.S. has scored at least five times in each of its six games, scored at least one goal in 16 of the 18 periods it has played and has never trailed.

The U.S. hasn't just beaten teams, it has destroyed them.