The United States women’s hockey team has never lost an international contest to an opponent not named Canada. That winning streak is still intact today after a late offensive eruption turned a close game into a blowout. The U.S. finished the preliminary round by defeating Finland 7-3 at the Palasport Olimpico.

Five goals in the final period erased a two score deficit and allowed the U.S. to advance to the semi-finals, where they will take on Sweden on Friday. They finished 3-0 in Pool B, also registering victories against Germany and Switzerland.

A great individual effort by Angela Ruggiero broke the third period tie. The Harper Woods native took the puck from behind her own net, skated up ice, faked a shot at the blue line, and wristed a laser past Finnish goalie Maija Hassinen.

“I love to jump in the play,” said Ruggiero, who also scored an insurance goal later in the period, to reporters in Torino. “It was 4-on-4, so you have more leeway as a defenseman because you know your forwards will cover you.”

Ruggiero’s goal started a flurry of scoring, as Natalie Darwitz and Krissy Wendell also scored less than three minutes apart from each other to quickly turn a nail-biter into a laugher. The team can now set its’ sights on a tough Sweden team and a possible matchup with gold medal favorite Canada.

“We don’t have to change anything, we just need to execute on what we do,” said Wendell, who is the captain of a team that won silver in 2002, to reporters in Torino. “We just need keep it simple and do what we do best.”

Katie King has scored the most goals in U.S. women’s hockey history, but few were as important as her early third period goal. With Jenny Potter screening Hassinen in the slot, King ripped a hard shot into the back of the net to tie the score at three and swing the momentum irrevocably back to the United States.

Only four of the eight teams in contention advance to the semi-final round, which is set it to be held on Friday. The winners of the two playoff contests will play in the gold medal game.

“We love playing Canada,” said Ruggiero to NBC. “It would be a battle. We would need all of our strength to keep pace with them.”

Sarah Parsons’ offensive heroics set up King’s clutch goal. The 18-year-old Olympian notched her third and fourth goals of the year, giving the U.S. their first two scores to help stem an early Finnish rush.

Special teams played a prominent role in the outcome, as both teams combined for four power play goals on 25 opportunities. Finland opened up the largest lead of the game, going up 3-1 in the second thanks to a 5-on-3 that was precipitated by Tricia Dunn’s 10-minute boarding misconduct and Kelly Stephen’s hooking penalty.

It didn’t take long for Finland to go on the offensive. Mari Pehkonen buried home a pass from Karoliina Rantamaki just 13 seconds into the game, taking advantage of a defensive zone turnover.

The U.S. shook off the early setback, capitalizing on an interference penalty thanks to a power play goal by Parsons midway through the first. Finland answered right back with a power play score of their own, getting a tally from Emma Laaksonen to regain the one goal edge before the intermission.

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