RivCo Hockey Player, Youngest On Team, Now Olympic Gold Medalist

GANGNEUNG, SOUTH KOREA — A Riverside County athlete helped the United States win its first medal in women's hockey since 1998, defeating Canada 3-2 in a shootout final. Cayla Barnes of Eastvale is now an Olympic gold medalist. And at just 19, she's the team's youngest player.

The win for Barnes and her teammates breaks a gold medal game losing streak which saw them drop the final to Canada at three of the last four Olympics.

The tense back-and-forth final needed a shootout to decide the goal medal after a 2-2 draw through regulation and a 4-on-4 overtime period. Going into the sixth shootout frame tied 2-2, Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson faked out Canadian goalie Shannon Szabados with a highlight-reel deke for the go-ahead score.

American netminder Maddie Rooney denied Meghan Agosta a chance to extend the game, ending the shootout and Canada's reign as the Olympic champions of women's hockey.

As for Barnes, she was only added to the 2017-18 U.S. women's national team roster Oct. 28, more than a month after it began practice in the Tampa suburb of Wesley Chapel, Florida.

Barnes had played the first five games of her college career for Boston College when she was added to the national team's roster. She withdrew from Boston College and will return in August to re-start her freshman year, both academically and athletically.

News reports have noted that she was in high school just months before getting the call to join the team — but is now the youngest player on the team.

Cayla Barnes was in high school only months ago. Now she could be going to the Olympics as the youngest player on the U.S. women's hockey team. https://t.co/VOErrG2eVD @TeresaMWalker pic.twitter.com/AWJUCxNJD3
— AP Sports (@AP_Sports) December 14, 2017

Barnes marched in the Olympic opening ceremony which she called "a breathtaking experience."

"I felt so much joy walking out as I was surrounded by so many amazing athletes and representing an amazing country," said Barnes, who like the rest of the U.S. Olympic team was wearing a Ralph Lauren self-heating jacket.

"It is such a humbling moment and amazing to see the world come together through sport. I am beyond proud to be American. It is a night I will never forget."

The U.S. last won the gold medal at the 1998 games in Nagano.

— City News Service and Patch Editor Daniel Libon contributed to this report.

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MAIN IMAGE: GANGNEUNG, SOUTH KOREA - FEBRUARY 22: Cayla Barnes #3 of the United States and Rebecca Johnston #6 of Canada fall on the ice as they battle for the puck in the second period during the Women's Gold Medal Game on day thirteen of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games at Gangneung Hockey Centre on February 22, 2018 in Gangneung, South Korea. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)