HEINOLA, Finland – Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team successfully defended its gold medal at the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship, edging the United States 2-1 in overtime Saturday night at Heinola Arena.

The United States scored at 18:04 in the first and managed to hold off Canada until late in the third, but a beautiful high shot from Catherine Dubois (Quebec City, Que./Limoilou, Collégial AA) in the last 13 seconds sent the game into overtime. It took just 58 seconds into the extra frame for Karly Heffernan (St. Albert, Alta./Edge School, JWHL) to score the exciting game-winning goal for a storybook ending for Canada at the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship. Kimberly Newell (Burnaby, B.C./Princeton University, ECAC) made 39 saves for the win.

Earlier Saturday, Sweden shut out the Czech Republic 4-0 to claim the bronze medal at the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship, which started Saturday, Dec. 29 and ran through today in Heinola and Vierumäki, Finland.

Earlier this week, Canada defeated Sweden 7-2 on Friday, Jan. 4 in semifinals to advance to the gold medal game. In the preliminary round, Canada beat Hungary 4-1 on Saturday, Dec. 29, blanked Finland 4-0 on Sunday, Dec. 30 and blanked Germany 7-0 on Tuesday, Jan. 1, coming in first place in Group A. The United States took first place in Group B with three straight wins.

Canada and the United States have met in all six gold medal games at the IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship. Canada also won the world championship last year, shutting out the United States 3-0 in Zlin, Czech Republic, and in 2010, defeating its cross-border rival 5-4 in overtime in Chicago, Ill. The U.S. took gold in 2008, 2009 and 2011.

Canada’s Halli Krzyzaniak (Neepawa, Man./Pursuit of Excellence, Midget AAA) was named best defenceman of the tournament, as selected by the IIHF directorate, while Sweden’s Minatsu Murase was named best goaltender and Katherine Schipper of the United States was named best forward. The top three Canadian players, as selected by the IIHF directorate, are forwards Hanna Bunton (Belleville, Ont./Whitby, PWHL) and Dubois, along with Krzyzaniak.

Captain Kristyn Capizzano (Oakville, Ont./Mississauga, PWHL), alternate captains Emily Clark (Saskatoon, Sask./Okanagan Hockey Academy, JWHL) and Krzyzaniak, along with Ashleigh Brykaliuk (Brandon, Man./Westman, MFMHL) and Dubois, all return this year after winning the 2012 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship in Zlin. Jessica Dodds (London, Ont./London, PWHL), Kristin Gilmour (Millgrove, Ont./Oakville, PWHL) and Sarah Nurse (Hamilton, Ont./Stoney Creek, PWHL) made their Team Canada debuts at this world championship.

Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team includes two goaltenders, seven defencemen and 13 forwards. Seventeen players were members of Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team for a three-game series against the U.S. Women’s Under-18 Team in August in Blaine, Minn., winning two of those games.

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Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team, broken down by province:

Alberta – three (Taryn Baumgardt*, Eden Murray*, Karly Heffernan*)

British Columbia – three (Kimberly Newell*, Hannah Miller*, Alexa Ranahan*)

Manitoba – three (Ashleigh Brykaliuk*, Halli Krzyzaniak*, Cassidy Carels*)

Ontario – eight (Hanna Bunton*, Kristyn Capizzano*, Jessica Dodds, Kristin Gilmour, Corie Jacobson, Sydney McKibbon*, Alex Moore, Sarah Nurse)

Prince Edward Island – one (Sarah Steele*)

Quebec – three (Geneviève Bannon*, Catherine Daoust*, Catherine Dubois*)

Saskatchewan – one (Emily Clark*)

*played for Canada in a three-game series against the United States in August.

Players and staff of Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team will be flying home from Finland on Sunday, Jan. 6. The following flight arrival information is subject to change:

Winnipeg, Man., at 3:52 p.m. CT (AC267) – Ashleigh Brykaliuk, Cassidy Carels, Karly Heffernan

Minneapolis, Minn., at 4:25 p.m. CT (DL4124) – head coach Jim Fetter

London, Ont., at 5:06 p.m. ET (AC7715) – Jessica Dodds

Montreal, Que., at 5:15 p.m. ET (AC418) – Geneviève Bannon, Catherine Daoust

Sudbury, Ont., at 5:32 p.m. ET (AC7813) – Corie Jacobson

Quebec City, Que., at 6:05 p.m. ET (AC8924) – Catherine Dubois

Boston, Mass., at 6:11 p.m. ET (AC364) – Emily Clark, Hannah Miller, Alexa Ranahan, assistant coach Rebecca Russell

Duluth, Minn., at 6:16 p.m. CT (DL4101) – assistant coach Laura Schuler

Calgary, Alta. at 6:20 p.m. MT (AC125) – Taryn Baumgardt, Eden Murray

Newark, N.J. at 6:55 p.m. ET (AC768) – Kimberly Newell

Kelowna, B.C., at 8:14 p.m. PT (AC8420) – Halli Krzyzaniak

Halifax, N.S., 8:47 p.m. AT (AC126) – goaltending coach Joe Johnston

Players not listed above are scheduled to land with the team in Toronto, Ont., at 12:30 p.m. ET (AC873) via Frankfurt, Germany, and will be driving or returning over the coming days to their final destinations.

Follow Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team at www.twitter.com/hc_women; become a fan of Hockey Canada at www.facebook.com/hockeycanada; and for statistics, stories, post-game video interviews and much more from Finland, please visit www.hockeycanada.ca/nwt.