The U.S. women's hockey team's opponent for the quarterfinals at the 2022 Winter Olympics has been decided.
After falling to Canada in their final preliminary tilt of the Olympic hockey tournament, the U.S. earned Group A's No. 2 seed going into the playoffs, which means they will face off against the Czech Republic — the No. 2 seed from Group B.
This is the first time the Czechs have ever competed in women's hockey at the Winter Games, and they've played quite admirably. The Czech women finished the group stage with two regulation wins and two losses (one coming in the shootout), giving them seven points in their four preliminary tilts. They ranked second in Group B with 10 goals for during group play and finished with a plus-2 goal differential.
The U.S. women, however, are on a completely different level. The Americans only lost one game during the prelims and finished group play with 20 goals in their four contests. They also outshot their opponents 233-63, which is just mind-blowing.
The Czechs have been a cool story since the start of the Games, but the U.S. is a totally different beast in comparison to the teams they squared off against in Group B. Barring perhaps the greatest upset in women's hockey history, the U.S. are a near lock to advance to the semifinals as they look to defend their gold from PyeongChang.
