Shewchuk gave Canada the lead again halfway through the second period. Kelly Bechard-the winger who rounds out the Shewchuk-Botterill line on Team Canada-set up the goal. After a U.S. defender blocked her shot, Bechard recollected the puck and sent to the puck cross-ice through the sticks of three players to Shewchuk, who was unmarked at the edge of the crease. Shewchuk placidly buried the puck into the open part of the net for the 2-1 advantage.

Once the Canadians regained the lead, they played more conservatively and kept a forward back, while the U.S. tried in vain to get the pack past St. Pierre. In one startling sequence on the power play, St. Pierre stopped several shots in succession while sprawled across the crease, including a Mleczko shot from point-blank range.

Then with 3:15 left in the game, Botterill netted the critical insurance goal. Canadian defenseman Therese Brisson earned the assist on the goal, as she sent the puck from the point to left side of the crease, where an unmarked Botterill deflected the puck perfectly over Tueting into the net.

With only 1:16 left, Canadian defenseman Correne Bredin-Dartmouth's lone representative in the tournament-got called for a holding penalty. Mleczko lit the lamp just seven seconds later, sending a puck that deflected off a Canadian defender past St. Pierre.

But there would be no last-minute miracle comeback for the U.S. With Tueting out of the net, Shewchuk gained control of the puck on the attack and had a chance at the game-icing goal, but she was tripped up by U.S. defenseman Karyn Bye. Bye watched the agonizing final minute from the penalty box.

In the awards ceremony after the game, Botterill was awarded a pile of honors, and the Canadian team was awarded their gold medals, while the American team-including defenseman Angela Ruggiero, Botterill's former Harvard roommate-could only watch. Tueting never removed her goaltender's mask through the course of the ceremony.

Shewchuk finished with five goals and four assists on the tournament, while Botterill had eight goals and two assists. The Harvard athletes smoothly made the transition from the college game to the international game in a matter of days.

"I like going from one to another with no break," Shewchuk said. "[The international game] is a step up from college hockey, for sure. It's so much faster. The shots come faster. But college hockey in the U.S. has gotten so much better. It's at a level now that I'd recommend it to any woman who has serious aspirations."