Rockford-area athlete shines for Team USA in women's hockey world championships

Orangeville senior Tessa Janecke was named one of Team USA’s three best hockey players of the tournament, but for once Team USA wasn’t the best.

Team USA was upset 3-2 by Canada in Monday’s gold medal game of the IIHF Under-18 Women's World Championship.

Team USA was trying to win its seventh world championship in the last eight years and had beaten Canada 7-0 in pool play, the worst loss — and first shutout — in Canada’s history.

“It’s definitely a hard pill to swallow, but they were the better team last night and they deserved to win,” Janecke said in a phone interview Tuesday morning. “It’s all perspective from then on. It’s a learning moment.

“You just have to come to play every game. I think we did that up until this past game. It’s just tough, but it happens.”

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Janecke, who led Orangeville to a third-place finish in the Class 1A state softball tournament as a junior, plays forward on Team USA’s top line. She, tournament MVP Laila Edwards and Sydney Morrow were named Team USA’s top players of the tournament.

Women's hockey in the spotlight

The tourney was moved from January in Sweden to June in Madison, Wisconsin, because of the COVID pandemic.

That move helped put the tourney in the spotlight.

The gold medal game drew a sellout crowd of 2,288 to LaBahn Arena. The Wisconsin State Journal wrote the crowd “rivaled what’s seen for a UW game in the NCAA Tournament” and said it was far larger than past International Ice Hockey Federation women’s events.

The tourney was also televised in the U.S. for the first time. The three pool play games — where Team USA beat Sweden 6-1, Finland 5-0 and Canada 7-0 — streamed on ESPN+. The two medal-round games, including a 3-2 win over Sweden, aired on the NHL Network.

“It’s cool to have it going on on ESPN and the NHL Network and seeing them promote women’s hockey,” Janecke said.

A sizable portion of that crowd came to cheer on Janecke, who played youth hockey for years in southern Wisconsin.

“I had quite a few people just from Orangeville,” she said. “I had some of my NAHA teammates (where she plays at a hockey boarding school) who came out and watched. A lot of my softball teammates and hockey teammates from Madison growing up. And a ton of family. People want to see what it was like. It was nice to see all that support.”

For many of those friends, it was one of the first times they had ever seen Tessa Janecke play hockey. And certainly the first time on such a big stage.

“That was really great,” said her dad, Andrew Janecke, who passed on the family’s hockey genes from Tessa’s grandfather. “She hasn’t been able to play in front of them in high school. They played one game in (nearby) Monroe when the other rinks weren’t available, but this was a really unique and cool experience to see her on a bigger stage. She had a bunch of good friends there, teachers, family members, great support from the whole community.”

USA and Canada dominate

The U.S. and Canada have dominated women’s hockey since its inception, playing each other in the Gold Medal game 13 of the last 14 times, with the U.S. winning seven of those matchups to Canada’s six. But this year, both teams had to break third-period ties to advance in the semifinals, with Canada beating Finland 2-1.

In the finals, Canada built a 3-0 lead before Team USA scored two second-period goals in seven seconds to cut it to 3-2. But Mari Pietersen, who took over as goalie after that earlier 7-0 loss to the the U.S., stopped 29 of 31 Team USA shots, including several big saves in the final period, to preserve the victory.

Wisconsin recruit Ava Murphy had a goal and an assist for Canada. She was one of eight Wisconsin recruits in the tournament. Janecke, who heads to State College in 10 days, will play for Penn State.

“We will be playing against each other and some of them will also be teammates (on Team USA) for a long time to come,” Janecke said. “It’s something to look forward to, seeing them around. It’s always good to know you have those people on your side as well. The last two weeks, it was like having a new family with USA Hockey.”

Matt Trowbridge is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at mtrowbridge@rrstar.com and follow him on Twitter at @MattTrowbridge. Matt has covered sports for the Register Star for more than 30 years after previously working for papers in North Dakota, Delaware, Vermont and Iowa City. He grew up on a farm in northwest Minnesota with six brothers and a sister. His four daughters all graduated from Rockford Public Schools.

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Team USA women's hockey team: Tessa Janecke stars for silver medalist