Canada edged the United States 3-2 to clinch the title Monday night at the IIHF U18 Women’s World Championships.

With the victory, Canada claimed its sixth title and stopped its rival from defending its 2019 title. Canadian goaltender Mari Pietersen stopped 29 shots – including 10 in the final period – to clinch the win.

The game presented a stark turnaround from the meeting between the teams in group play, which Team USA won 7-0.

Ava Murphy and Alexia Aubin each had a goal and an assist while Jocelyn Amos added one more goal for Canada.

The Canadian national teams have had a good run of late, with the senior national team beating the U.S. 3-2 to win gold at the Beijing Olympics in February. The national team beat the U.S. by the same score at the world championships last August.

After the Canadian junior team went up 3-0 on Monday, Team USA rallied with goals by Finley McCarthy and Claire Enright in the second period. But it wasn’t enough, as the tournament leaders in goals scored (21) managed just two goals on 31 shots in the loss.

Earlier, Finland beat Sweden 3-0 to claim its third bronze medal. Sanni Vanhanen had all three goals to secure the hat trick while Emilia Kyrkko stopped 35 shots on goal.

The most recent iteration of the tournament before this took place more than two years ago, in January 2020. The 2022 tournament certainly delivered, even six months after its originally scheduled starting date.

The competition was set to take place in Sweden in January, but it was canceled due to COVID-19 concerns. After an outcry, in which many pointed out the IIHF men’s tournaments were still on the schedule for later in the year, the organization changed gears, shifting the tournament to Wisconsin in June.

Full IIHF U18 Schedule

Monday, June 6

• Group A:
  • United States 6, Sweden 1: Cassandra Hall scored back-to-back goals and four other players got on the board for the U.S. Ebba Hedqvist scored the lone goal for Sweden.
  • Finland 2, Canada 0: Finland scored its first-ever win against Canada with goals from Ada Eronen and Oona Havana.
• Group B:
  • Czech Republic 4, Slovakia 0: The Czech Republic got the tournament started with a bang. Adela Sapovalivova scored twice while Andrea Trnkova and Eliska Hotova also got on the board.
  • Germany 1, Switzerland 0: Lola Liang was the lone scorer.

Tuesday, June 7

• Group A:
  • United States 5, Finland 0: Laila Edwards and Tessa Janecke each scored twice for Team USA as they blanked Finland. With the win, the U.S. sits atop Group A with one final matchup against Canada set for Thursday.
  • Canada 3, Sweden 1: Canada got one back thanks to a two-goal performance from Rhea Hicks plus a goal from Reichen Kirchmair. Canada and Finland are now tied for second in Group A.
• Group B:
  • Czech Republic 6, Germany 2: The Czech Republic had a strong showing over Germany, with Tereza Plosova notching the hat trick. Lucie Gruntova also scored twice, back-to-back goals in the second period. With one game left to play in group play, the Czech Republic leads Group B while Germany and Switzerland are tied for second.
  • Switzerland 3, Slovakia 1: After going down 1-0 to Slovakia, Switzerland responded by scoring three unanswered goals. Nina Harju, Elena Gaberell and Jade Surdez all found the back of the net.

Thursday, Jun 9

• Group A: 
  • United States 7, Canada 0: This one was a doozy as seven different Americans found the back of the net for Team USA. Canada had no answer, and U.S. goalkeeper Annelies Bergmann stopped all 25 shots she faced.
  • Sweden 4, Finland 3: After going up 2-1, Sweden found itself in a 3-2 hole. Goals from Emma Pfeffer and Jenna Raunio helped the Swedes secure the comeback win against Finland. They managed to salvage three points with the win.
• Group B:
  • Czech Republic 2, Switzerland 0: The Czech Republic took care of business against Switzerland. Anna Vanickova got things started in the second period before Dominika Malicka buried the finisher. Czech goalie Michaela Hesova stopped all 21 shots she faced.
  • Slovakia 6, Germany 2: Barbora Kapicakova and Hana Fancovicova each found the back of the net twice as Slovakia easily handled Germany. Lola Liang got the scoring started as Germany went up 1-0 but couldn’t find a response for Slovakia’s offense.

Friday, June 10

• Quarterfinals
  • Canada 7, Slovakia 0: Canada cruised past Slovakia, securing their place in Sunday’s semifinal against Finland. Seven different players got on the board for Canada, with Sarah MacEachern notching three assists. Madison Chantler kicked off the offensive onslaught, scoring 52 seconds into the matchup, opening the floodgates for Canada, who outshot their opponents 65-5.
  • Sweden 2, Czech Republic 1: Sweden battled to a narrow 2-1 win to clinch a matchup against the U.S. in Sunday’s semifinal. Jenna Raunio logged the go-ahead goal for Sweden, sealing a hard-fought victory for her side.

Sunday, June 11

• Semifinals
  • Canada 2, Finland 1: After Jade Iginla broke open the scoring for Canada, Finland’s Tilli Keranen evened up the score to make it 1-1. It would stay that way until Madison Chantler notched the game-winning goal in the third.
  • United States 3, Sweden 2: After going up 1-0 on a goal from Sydney Morrow, the U.S. found themselves down 2-1 after two unanswered goals from Mira Jungaker and Stella Lindell. But Team USA didn’t show any panic. Margaret Scannell and Grace Dwyer ended up providing the tie-maker and the tie-breaker, respectively, in the third period to secure the win. The U.S. advances to play Canada in the gold medal game while Sweden will play Finland for bronze.

Monday, June 13

• Bronze medal game: Finland 3, Sweden 0
• Gold medal game: Canada 3, United States 2

US swimming icon Katie Ledecky is back on top, earning her 22nd world title with a gold medal-winning 1,500-meter freestyle performance at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships on Tuesday.

Finishing with a time of 15:26.44, Ledecky now owns 25 of the top 26 times in the event's history and holds six World Aquatics Championships titles at that distance.

"Each one has meaning, and I love every race that I've had at Worlds over the years," the 28-year-old swimming star told broadcasters following her Tuesday victory.

That 22nd title brought Ledecky's combined Worlds total to an overall 28 medals, lifting the star to second on the all-time most decorated list where she trails only retired US men's star Michael Phelps's 33 podium finishes.

Earlier in the week, the Team USA standout took bronze in the 400-meter freestyle, coming in third behind China's silver-medalist Li Bingjie and Canadian sensation Summer McIntosh, who won the race with a time of 3:56.26.

Gold medals have been hard to come by for Team USA at this year's World Championships.

Other than Ledecky's win and the 100-meter butterfly title snagged by Gretchen Walsh on Monday, the US women have struggled to claim gold medals as they push to recover from the acute gastroenteritis that hit several team members at their pre-meet training camp in Thailand.

That stomach bug inhibited multiple US swimmers from traveling with the team to the Singapore meet, and saw contenders like 100-meter butterfly Olympic gold medalist Torri Huske pull out of initial heats.

"We're taking it a day at a time," said Team USA head coach Greg Meehan about the impact of the illness. "Obviously, this is not how we thought the first few days of this competition would go. But I'm really proud of our team."

How to watch Ledecky at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships

The 2025 World Aquatics Championships runs through Sunday, and US star Ledecky has two events left to swim at the meet.

On Thursday, she'll compete in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay, before facing another showdown with rival McIntosh in the 800-meter freestyle on Saturday.

Preliminary heats kick off the night before at 10 PM ET, with finals seeing staggered starts beginning at 7 AM ET.

Live coverage of the meet airs on Peacock.

UEFA Women's Euro 2025 made a splash across the pond, drawing an average of 458,000 US viewers per match across FOX platforms to mark a 97% viewership increase over the 2022 edition — making this year's tournament the most-watched English-language Women's Euro on record.

Building off the 2025 competition's previously reported record-breaking numbers, Sunday's grand finale between defending champs England and 2023 World Cup winners Spain averaged 1.35 million US viewers — a 53% increase in viewership over the last Women's Euro championship match.

Even more, the broadcast ultimately peaked at 1.92 million fans tuning in, making it the most-watched English-language Women's Euro Final on record.

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The historic viewership is a major win for broadcaster FOX, who secured the women's tournament's first-ever US media deal back in May.

Initially committing to live coverage of 20 of the tournament's matches, record returns motivated the broadcast giant to quickly pivot and air all 31 matches live as part of its FOX Sports Summer of Soccer campaign.

"More and more people are tuning in to watch soccer in the US," FOX Sports commentator and UWSNT vet Carli Lloyd told The Athletic. "There's just been an incredible amount of soccer on display, which has been fantastic for the sport."

As the NWSL preps for this weekend's return from an extended summer break, No. 4 Washington Spirit star forward Trinity Rodman is also hoping to re-take the pitch for the first time since April.

Rodman is currently back training with the team, rejoining her club after undergoing extended treatment overseas for chronic back issues.

"I'd never really dealt with something like that," Rodman admitted after an open practice earlier this week. "So, for me, mentally, it was very difficult."

"[I was] trying to function through pain, and kind of gaslight myself to thinking it was fine every day, when it wasn't," she said. "I can now kind of openly say, I was in pain all the time."

Rodman also admits that stepping away was, though difficult, the right call to make for her healing.

"Obviously, it sucks being away from the team and being away from soccer in general," she added. "But I got to work on things that I wouldn't have gotten to work on if I was in the team environment all the time, so I think that was a positive."

Rodman's availability fluctuated after she earned an Olympic gold medal with the USWNT in Paris last summer, with the soccer superstar featuring in just four Spirit games this season — and none since stepping away in April.

Now functioning pain-free, Rodman's next on-pitch challenge is balancing her competitive intensity with her newly found health.

"It's really understanding my body and acknowledging [when] it's in pain," she explained. "And not pushing through things that I shouldn't."

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Rodman eyes new contract amid NWSL return

On top of navigating her return to play, Rodman is also actively negotiating with the Washington Spirit for a contract renewal.

Her current deal expires at the end of 2025, and with interest in the US standout reportedly mounting from overseas clubs, the 23-year-old could eventually field multiple offers.

Considering her lack of minutes so far this season, the star called the assumed interest "a weird situation."

"I'm trying not to stress about it or put too much pressure on it," she said of the ongoing talks. "At the end of the day, I'm worried about health first.... Everything else can come next."

Wednesday's WNBA bill puts a heavyweight battle in the spotlight, as 2024 finalists and 2025 league leaders Minnesota will host reigning champion No. 2 New York in their first face-off of the season — with the Liberty hoping to rattle both the Lynx and the standings.

"I think common sense would say that those two teams probably should have played earlier in the season," Minnesota head coach Cheryl Reeve told media this week, referencing the apparent scheduling idiosyncrasies that delayed the championship rematch.

"It doesn't feel like a Finals rematch anymore, honestly," Lynx forward Napheesa Collier echoed. "It's a new year for us. And it's been so long, it's almost August, so it's just the two top teams going against each other."

Both squads enter the clash on uncharacteristic skids, as Minnesota and New York look to avenge recent losses while other WNBA teams jockey for positioning during the league's Wednesday night slate:

• No. 3 Phoenix Mercury vs. No. 6 Indiana Fever, 7 PM ET (ESPN3): The Fever must continue to contend without injured star guard Caitlin Clark, as Indiana faces a newly healthy Mercury side striving to steal back the No. 2 spot with a win.

• No. 5 Atlanta Dream vs. No. 11 Dallas Wings, 8 PM ET (ESPN3): After a disappointing Tuesday upset loss, the will Dream close out a back-to-back against a bolstered Dallas squad fresh off a big victory over New York.

• No. 2 New York Liberty vs. No. 1 Minnesota Lynx, 8 PM ET (ESPN): With a four-game lead in the standings, the Lynx aren't in danger of giving up their perch at the top, but a strong performance from the Liberty could provide a much-needed boost to the ailing title-holders.