In a day of sport that was certainly not short on drama, this has to be right up there with the best of it. Ice hockey may not be a sport that has caught on in this part of the world, but it is highly popular in North America, as well Scandinavia and other European countries with colder climates.
The women's Ice Hockey World Cup has been taking place over the past 10 days in Finland, culminating in the final tonight between the host nation and the USA.
In what was a tightly contested contest, the teams could not separated in regulation time, meaning overtime was required. With the scores tied at 1-1, whoever scored the first goal in the extra period would win it all. It would be Finland that would grab that all important score and delirium ensued.
The crowd and the team were going nuts, but they would soon be brought back to earth. After footage of the goal was reviewed, it was ruled out. As you can imagine, the did not go down well in the arena.
🇫🇮After video review there was no goal. Back to business and overtime. #WomensWorlds pic.twitter.com/VLFpY98yVC
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) April 14, 2019
You can probably guess what happened next. No team would be able to find that all important goal in the remainder of overtime, meaning a penalty shootout would be required. As so often turns out to be the case in situations such as this, the team who thought they had won it would come out on the losing end.
🥇🇺🇸A shoot out win for @usahockey makes them your OFFICIAL #WomensWorlds CHAMPIONS!!! pic.twitter.com/ox9zu485DD
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) April 14, 2019
It was always going to go that way after the goal was ruled out wasn't it? Never count your chickens before they're hatched I suppose.
