USA women put nine past Czech Republic in world ice hockey semi-final

Captain Hilary Knight, Amanda Kessel and Tessa Janecke each scored twice, and the United States secured their tournament-record 22nd berth in the women’s hockey world championship gold-medal game with a 9-1 rout of the Czech Republic on Saturday.

The victory sets up another potential showdown against cross-border rival Canada in the championship game on Sunday. Canada, which eked out a 3-2 overtime win over Sweden in the quarterfinals, plays Switzerland in the other semi-final later in the day.

Canada (5-0) finished atop the Group A standings following a 4-3 shootout win over the Americans on Monday.

With nine titles to Canada’s 12, the US (5-1) have never missed a gold-medal game in tournament history, and they will be seeking to reclaim the title after losing to Canada in each of the past two finals.

Second-year coach John Wroblewski’s decision to retool an aging roster so far has paid off, with a mix of veterans – Knight and Kessel – and youngsters – Janecke and Caroline Harvey – filling the scoresheet against the Czechs.

The 33-year-old Knight also added an assist to increase her Team USA-record world championship total to 98 points. The 20-year-old Harvey scored and added four assists to raise her team-leading tournament total to 13 points. The 22-year-old Janecke now has three goals and six points in her tournament debut.

Cayla Barnes had three assists while Abbey Murphey and Abby Roque also scored. Aerin Frankel stopped 14 shots to improve her tournament record to 4-1.

Adela Sapovalivova scored for the Czechs, who are making their Group A debut in the tournament after winning their first tournament bronze medal last year. This marked the second straight year the Czechs have lost to the US in the semis, following a