Karly Heffernan fired the golden goal for Canada at the U18 women’s world championship.
The former St. Albert Slash forward beat netminder Sidney Peters 58 seconds into sudden-death to edge the United States 2-1 Saturday in Heinola, Finland.
A pass from behind the net by Hanna Bunton of Belleville, Ont. set up Heffernan’s one-timer.
“It was definitely the biggest goal (of my career). I can’t even remember half of it. It’s crazy,” Heffernan told the Canadian Press after the game.
Catherine Dubois of Quebec City put Canada in position to win gold by scoring the equalizer with 13 seconds left in regulation time.
“We were pretty shaken, (but) we were really happy and we needed to calm down for overtime,” said Heffernan, who plays for the Calgary-based Edge School for Athletes in the Junior Women’s Hockey League.
The United States opened the scoring on the power play with two minutes left in the first period while outshooting Canada 20-1. Shots overall were 40-25. In net for Canada was Kimberly Newell of Burnaby, B.C.
Canada finished on top of group A in the preliminary round at 3-0 by outscoring its opponents 15-1.
The United States didn’t allow a goal in the preliminary round while racking up 25 goals in three wins.
Last year Canada blanked the United States 3-0 in the final in Zlin, Czech Republic.
The two teams have dominated the event by playing for gold in all five championships. Canada’s first gold medal victory was 2010.
In July, Canada defeated the United States in a three-game series in Minnesota. They split the first two games before Canada clinched the third game on Heffernan’s shootout winner.
Heffernan, 16, finished the U18 worlds with two goals and two assists. She scored in the 4-1 win versus Hungary and picked up two assists in the 7-2 semifinal victory over Sweden.
Heffernan is the top scorer for the Edge School Mountaineers (13-3-2) with 15 goals and 25 points in 18 games.
Heffernan was en route back home from worlds and was unavailable for an interview at press time.
