PEORIA — The U.S. men's and women's hockey teams enjoyed big success Thursday and Friday as both got big goals with Peoria ties.
Buffalo Sabres center Tage Thompson assisted on USA's first goal and scored its second goal Friday in a semifinal against Slovakia.
Thompson's goal stood as the potential game-winner well into the third period before Slovakia picked up a late tally. USA won it, 6-2, and with it a trip to the gold medal game.
That game is at 7:10 a.m. Sunday against Canada.
Thompson grew up in the Peoria Youth Hockey Association system, playing four years in it while his father, ex-NHLer Brent Thompson, was an assistant coach for the Peoria Rivermen in the American Hockey League.
Tage Thompson and his brother, Tyce, were fixtures at Rivermen hockey games in Carver Arena.
A golden goal for the women
The U.S. Women's Olympic team won a dramatic gold medal game over Canada, 2-1 in sudden-death overtime, late Thursday night in Milan, Italy.
They trailed with three minutes to go, were tied with two minutes to go, then set off a celebration in overtime on a gold-clinching winner by Megan Keller.
"I'm lost for words," Keller told USA Today. "This is an incredible feeling. 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."
Who is Megan Keller? She is the sister of former Peoria Rivermen winger Ryan Keller.
The four-year product out of Michigan State played 25 games for the Rivermen in the 2016-17 SPHL season, including six playoff contests.
He notched six goals and eight assists and moved on, never playing pro hockey again.
But his social media shows he's been in Italy rooting on his sister and USA.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: How Peoria has ties to both USA men's and women's Winter Olympics hockey teams