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On a night when Taylor Hayes and Abby Murphy combined for four goals in Team USA's women's Hockey Rivalry Series win over Canada 4-1, the forwards turned their attention to teammate Layla Edwards.
“Queen of Cleveland,” Heise said Thursday night. “That's what we called her all week.”
Edwards, 21, took center stage at her homecoming, receiving the loudest applause when her name was announced. Captain Hilary Knight invited her to take part in the ceremonial face-off against Canada captain Marie-Philippe Poulin. And to top it all off, Edwards provided the first assist on the American's first goal.
“I just felt the pressure,” Edwards said of her point shot to Heise to tie the game at 1 midway through the first period. “I was very excited and a little shocked. The lights went out and I thought, “This is amazing.”
Edwards is a forward-turned-defender from Cleveland Heights and the first black female player to play for the U.S. national team.
And until last weekend, the Wisconsin high school senior wasn't sure if she would be able to play. Edwards injured her knee during a college game three weeks ago and still wears a brace.
“Incredible. She deserves every bit of (attention),” Murphy said. “It’s really cool that the whole city is behind her.”
Heise scored and scored each of Murphy's three goals. Presumptive U.S. starter Aerin Frankel stopped 26 shots as the Americans won three straight against their cross-border rival. The streak began with a two-game win over Canada at the World Cup in the Czech Republic in April, including a 4-3 overtime win in the title game.
The United States defeats Canada 4-1 in Game 1 of the Rivalry Series. Abby Murphy scores three goals and Taylor Hayes finishes with four points.
Filje scored Canada's only goal
Sarah Fillier scored for Canada. Eva Gascón stopped 22 shots in her Canada debut. The University of Minnesota-Duluth's junior squad started with coach Troy Ryan opting for a younger lineup. Canada left several veterans at home, including goalkeeper Anne-Renee Desbiens.
The teams will meet again on Saturday in Buffalo, New York. The four-game series between the world powers will conclude with two games in Edmonton, Alberta, next month.
While the Americans are the reigning world champions, the Canadians are the reigning Olympic champions, having won their fifth gold at the 2022 Beijing Games.
“If you know this group, we don’t like to lose and it definitely stings a little,” Filje said. “So yeah, we just need to take everything we can from this game, learn a lot and hopefully send a message to Buffalo.”
After Filje and Heise traded goals 16 seconds apart, the Americans opened the game in the second period when Murphy scored on a pair of assists to Heise. Murphy then completed her hat trick by capitalizing on Heise's through-the-center pass for a power-play goal at 1:54 of the third period.
Edwards will all but miss his Olympic debut at the Milan-Cortina Games in February.
She has already won a national championship with the Badgers, a world championship gold medal in April and was named World Cup MVP in 2024 when the U.S. lost to Canada in her tournament debut in Utica, New York.
Coach John Wroblewski praised Edwards for the composure she showed amid all the attention.
“I think it’s just innate,” he said. “This is Layla, she’s a ballplayer, she’s a gamer, she’s real.”
Well, not always. Edwards admitted he was stunned the night before to see the NBA Cavaliers post a photo on X of star Larry Nance arriving at their home game against Philadelphia wearing Edwards' No. 10 USA hockey jersey.
“I discovered this at dinner when I was with my family. I thought, “Wow. I thought it was so cool,” Edwards said. “Born in Ohio. His dad played for the Cavaliers, a legend… I thought it was super cool for him.”
