Christian Sopkowiak/Winonan

In what had become the final minutes of a route to a gold medal, the United States women’s Olympic hockey team looked destined to win it all.

It was reasonable to think that in a few short but agonizing minutes, the United States would finally conquer the Great White North. Decisively, the glint of gold would be around the necks of the red, white and blue.

Then the score became 2-1, United States.

After an American miss on an empty net and a Canadian goal to send it to overtime with the less than a minute left, the dream seemed ultimately lost.

The Americans still had the overtime period to make up for their struggles, but the Canadians shot the puck past the American goalie one last time.

It all vanished: the triumph, the game, the lead, the gold medals and the history. The Americans lost their chance to beat their rival, their neighbor to the north that seemed to beat them every step of the way.

The Canadians would instead sling the gold around their necks while the Americans stood next to them with silver around theirs.

By a swing of fate, the United States and Canada would meet again—this time, in the semi-finals of the Olympic men’s hockey competition.

A few days after the women’s blunder, the men wanted revenge against the Canadians. This was their chance to at least knock out the men’s team and to get a medal.

But, in a hard fought game full of intrigue and close calls, the final score read 1-0, Canada. In the end, the men had to watch from the sidelines as Canada won a gold medal while the United States left with no medal.

The Great White North proved themselves the better Olympic hockey team by way of heartbreak and embarrassment.

In four years, the United States will look for revenge once again against their neighbor to the north. The rivalry will continue in PyeongChang, South Korea.