Megan Keller Discusses 'Incredible Feeling' After OT Goal Seals Olympic Gold Medal for USA Hockey

Team USA defenseman Megan Keller she felt "incredible" after scoring four minutes into overtime of Thursday's gold medal game against Canada during the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics.

"I'm lost for words. This is an incredible feeling," Keller said Thursday, per John Wawrow of the Associated Press. "I love these girls so much. This group deserves it. Just the effort and the faith that we kept through this four-year journey is something very special."

Keller continued, per Wawrow: "We knew we had it in us, and Hil came up big with that tying goal. I think just a lot of belief in our group. We wanted to play to win."

Canada led 1-0 with just over two minutes in regulation on Thursday before the United States pulled their goaltender.

Team captain Hilary Knight quickly scored to send the game to overtime before Keller ended it 4:07 into the extra frame.

Keller, a three-time Olympian and captain of the PWHL's Boston Fleet, has now been involved in two of the United States' three women's hockey Olympic gold medal wins.

During the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, during which she was still playing for Boston College, Keller led all skaters in ice time during Team USA's gold medal game shootout win against Canada.

Team USA also took home gold from the first women's hockey Olympic tournament in 1998 in Nagano.

The Americans entered the gold medal game having dominated in the earlier rounds of the tournament, outscoring opponents 31-1 while maintaining a historic shutout streak.

Canada's defense presented them with their biggest challenge yet, largely shutting down the American offense through two periods as Kristin O'Neill scored the go-ahead goal on a second-period penalty kill.

Goaltender Aerin Frankel helped keep Team USA in the game until Knight and Keller's late-game heroics secured the win.

Team USA will now finish the Olympics with a 33-2 goal differential and a gold medal.