Schenectady, NY (April 11, 2005)– Union women's hockey coach Tim Gerrish added another medal to his collection over the weekend as an assistant coach for Team USA, which captured its first-ever gold medal at the 2005 International Ice Hockey Federation Women's World Championship in Linkoping, Sweden after defeating Canada 1-0 in a shootout. This was Gerrish's third IIHF Women's World Championship assignment after he served in the same capacity at the 2001 and 2004 events.
His first USA Hockey assistant coaching assignment was with the silver medal-winning 1996 U.S. Women's Select Team at the IIHF Pacific Women's Hockey Championship in Vancouver. Gerrish served as assistant coach for Team USA, who captured silver at the 2004 Women's Four Nations Cup in Lake Placid, NY. It was his third Four Nations Cup appearance. He won his first gold medal with Team USA in 2003 when the U.S. Women's Select Team captured gold at the Four Nations Cup in Skovde, Sweden.
Prior to winning this gold medal, Team USA had won eight-consecutive silver medals at the Women's World Championship dating back to 1990. This game also marked the first time the Women's World Championship gold-medal game was decided by a shootout.
The teams skated through 80 scoreless minutes and tournament top goaltender Chanda Gunn (Huntington Beach, Calif.) turned away 26 shots before the U.S. won the decision by shootout.
Natalie Darwitz (Eagan, Minn.), Krissy Wendell (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) and Angela Ruggiero (Harper Woods, Mich.) scored in the shootout for Team USA while Gunn denied three of four Canadian shooters for the win. Ruggiero's shot was deemed the game-winner.
Through 60 minutes of regulation and a 20 minute sudden-death overtime period, Team USA outshot Canada, 49-26. In the extra period, both teams killed a penalty to preserve the 0-0 tie, sending the game to a best-of-five shootout.