Led by a two-goal effort from captain Krissy Wendell (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) and a four-point night by Natalie Darwitz (Eagan, Minn.), the Mark Johnson-led U.S. Women 's Select Team topped Finland by a 5-2 count Wednesday at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium. With the pair of tallies, Wendell became the third women's player in USA Hockey history to reach the 100-goal plateau.

Finland took a 2-1 lead early in the second period before Team USA scored four unanswered goals for the 5-2 victory. The United States now holds a 1-1-0 record heading into Friday's (Nov. 10) final round-robin game against Sweden at 4:00 p.m. EST.

'I like the way we responded after getting down by a goal,' said Team USA Head Coach Mark Johnson (Madison, Wis.), who is the head women's ice hockey at the University of Wisconsin. 'We got some energy from our second goal and were then able to score on the power play. In the third period, both teams were a little tired from the back-to-back games and took some penalties, but the bottom line is that we battled through a little adversity and got a win - now we get a little rest and can mentally prepare to take on the Swedes.'

Although the United States took control early and kept possession of the puck for the majority of the opening period, it was Finland who capitalized first with a tip-in on the power play at 17:56. Bouncing right back, Team USA's Wendell scored with one second remaining in the frame when Jocelyne Lamoureux (Grand Forks, N.D.) sent her a feed in front of Finnish netminder Mira Kuisima.

Finland broke the 1-1 tie early in the second period by again using the power play to get past Team USA goaltender Shari Vogt (Richmond, Minn.) during a scramble in front of the U.S. net at 3:31. As in the first period, the United States came back 27 seconds later when Karen Thatcher (Douglas, Mass.) scored her first international goal on a breakaway.

Using another breakaway opportunity, Wendell netted her second of the game and 100th of her U.S. career to put Team USA in the lead for the first time at 9:28 during a 4-on-4. Gigi Marvin (Warroad, Minn.) followed it up with her first career goal when she caught Julie Chu's rebound in front of Finland's net with the two-man advantage to put the United States up 4-2 at 12:45.

Darwitz added insurance at 19:12 of the final period with a shorthanded goal from Lamoureux and Wendell.

Vogt made 26 saves in net for the United States, while Finland's Kuisima stopped 38 U.S. shots.

NOTES: Krissy Wendell earned U.S. Player of the Game honors ... The two other women 's players who have reached the 100-goal plateau for USA Hockey are Cammi Granato (186-157--343) and Katie King (146-119--265) ... Saturday's (Nov. 11) gold-medal game will be broadcasted live on TSN ' The United States has earned either the gold or silver medal in each of the nine years it has competed in the Four Nations Cup (Three Nations Cup from 1996-99), including back-to-back silver medals in 2004 and 2005 ' Joining Mark Johnson on the coaching staff as assistant coaches are Hilary Witt (Hamden, Conn.), head women's ice hockey coach at Yale University, and Erin Whitten Hamlen (Hampton, N.H.), associate head women's ice hockey coach at the University of New Hampshire.