After suffering a devastating loss to Canada in the gold medal game four years ago, the U.S. women’s hockey team is on a revenge tour at the 2026 Winter Olympics. It’s been a rousing success thus far. The Americans rolled to a perfect 4-0-0-0 record in the preliminary round, including a blowout win over rival Canada, and they will now face Italy in the quarterfinals.
Team USA entered this tournament as the gold medal favorite, and it has looked the part through four games. The Americans outscored preliminary round opponents 20-1, and they’ve won three consecutive games by a score of 5-0. Caroline Harvey is tied for the tournament lead with seven points, and Alex Carpenter has found the back of the net in each game.
2026 Winter Olympics medal count: Keep track of Team USA’s quest for gold in Italy
Austin Nivison
As a result of that dominance, the U.S. has earned the top seed in the knockout round, and it will face No. 8 seed Italy. Unlike the five teams in Group A, the Italians had to earn a top-three spot in Group B to reach the quarterfinals. The team representing the home nation came up with wins over France and Japan and finished the preliminary round 2-0-0-2, which was good enough for six points and the final spot in the knockout round.
The quarterfinal matchups are win-or-go-home games as the tournament shifts to a single elimination format the rest of the way. Teams will be re-seeded according to the standings prior to the semifinals. The U.S. women’s hockey team has never fallen short of the semifinals at the Olympics, and this year’s team is heavily favored to reach the medal round again.
Below is everything you need to know about how to watch Team USA’s quarterfinal clash with Italy, as well as how they got here.
U.S. women’s hockey Olympic schedule
All times Eastern
Preliminary round
- Thursday, Feb. 5: USA 5, Czechia 1
- Saturday, Feb. 7: USA 5, Finland 0
- Monday, Feb. 9: USA 5, Switzerland 0
- Tuesday, Feb. 10: USA 5, Canada 0
Quarterfinal
- USA vs. Italy | Friday, Feb. 13 | 3:10 p.m. | USA Network
Semifinal
- TBD vs. TBD | Monday, Feb. 16 | 10:40 a.m. | TBD
Bronze medal game
- TBD vs. TBD | Thursday, Feb. 19 | 8:40 a.m. | TBD
Gold medal game
- TBD vs. TBD | Thursday, Feb. 19 | 1:10 p.m. | TBD
