Ryan Donato (Harvard) scored both American goals on power plays as the U.S. Men's Olympic Team earned its first victory of the 2018 Olympic Winter Games, a 2-1 decision over Slovakia on Thursday in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
The goals were the first-ever in Olympic competition by Donato, who gave the U.S. a 1-0 first-period lead before tacking on the game-winner early in the third period. He still ranks second among NCAA Division I players with 21 goals in 23 games so far this season. His father, Harvard head coach and retired NHL player Ted Donato, skated for the U.S. Olympic squad that finished fourth in Albertville, France in 1992.
The U.S. also got two assists Thursday from Chris Bourque (Boston University) and 21 saves from Ryan Zapolski (Mercyhurst) in rebounding from a 3-2 overtime loss to Slovenia in its first game of the tournament. Miloš Bubela (Rensselaer) had three shots and two penalty minutes for Slovakia.
Team USA will now take on the Olympic Athletes of Russia, which had earlier lost to Slovakia, on Saturday at 7:10 a.m. ET (NBCSN), also at Gangneung Hockey Centre.
The U.S. Women's Olympic Team, which fell to Canada, 2-1, on Wednesday despite outshooting its archrival, 45-23, awaits its semifinal opponent for a Monday meeting at Gangneung Hockey Centre. Kendall Coyne scored the lone goal for the Americans, while Canada got goals from Meghan Agosta (Mercyhurst) and Sarah Nurse (Wisconsin). Geneviève Lacasse (Providence) earned the win with 44 saves.
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