EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsMILAN -- The U.S. women's hockey team knows that as heavy Olympic favorites, things can get chippy on the ice -- and Team USA isn't afraid to fight back.Abbey Murphy was once again in the middle of the action, drawing and taking penalties as Team USA cruised to a 6-0 win over host Italy to advance to its seventh straight Olympic semifinal."A little spicy," U.S. forward Taylor Heise said. "I don't want to say too much about it, but I think at the end of the day, we had to play a specific style of hockey, and we're willing to form to whatever we need to do to be successful."It was a pattern of antics that annoyed the U.S. players, as well as coach John Wroblewski, who, at one point, got into a jawing match with the Italian coaches. Later, he griped about the officials not giving his team a fair shake."You see it time and time again," Wroblewski said. "A team that's maybe not as deep or skilled is allowed to hold up and blatantly break the rules."The main fireworks Friday occurred late in the second period, when Hannah Bilka fell on Italy goalie Gabriella Durante following the sixth goal, leading to a scrum in front of the net. Murphy rushed to the scene and appeared to throw some punches at Italy's Franziska Stocker.Stocker and Murphy were called for offsetting minor penalties. Murphy, the 23-year-old Minnesota star, was smiling as she went to the penalty box."When you represent your country, you hold yourself to a high standard," Murphy said. "So, anyone in front of the net that gets cross-checked, I'm not just going to watch that happen. That's not me. I'm not just going to let it go."In these Olympics, Murphy has drawn nine penalties, which include six different infractions, according to ESPN Research. The rest of the U.S. team has combined to draw 10 penalties."She's electric," Heise said. "I just think she makes people mad. Obviously, I want her on my team, she's a great player and a great human. I'll always say she's the best human in general, but if you get on her bad side, she's not. ... She helped us in that Canada game. I think she had three assists and four drawn penalties. That's better than a hat trick, in my opinion. So, she just knows where she can get under people's skin."When Murphy left for Milan, she led the NCAA in goals (36 in 26 games) as well as penalties (23)."Our coach said, 'Find that fine line,'" Murphy said. "Don't get in trouble. Don't do anything stupid that's going to keep you out the next game or whatsoever. But yeah, you know me."Friday's quarterfinal game, which had boisterous Italian and American fans in the crowd, became chippy early."It wasn't really hockey at points," forward Tessa Janecke said. "It can be frustrating. But if that's what they're going to do to win, that's what they're going to do. You have to play through it and be smart."The Americans have dominated in Milan, outscoring opponents 26-1, with at least five goals in every game.As the U.S. awaits its semifinal opponent, the team brings a 271:23 shutout streak, which is shared between goalies Aerin Frankel and Gwyneth Philips."People are always trying to play us hard, and they should," veteran defenseman Lee Stecklein said. "Really proud of the way our team held ourselves together, making sure we were focusing on ourselves. I think we luckily have some great leaders in our locker room. The way Hilary Knight is able to bring a room back together, refocus us, make sure we're focused on the right things."The U.S. outshot Italy 51-6, including 20-2 in the first period.Italy, meanwhile, finished the Winter Games with two wins in five games -- showing a big improvement after going 0-5 in its only other Olympic appearance in 2006.
