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Palmer hockey player Kerry Weiland won an Olympic medal Monday, but she won't know what color it is until Thursday.
Weiland, a 29-year-old defenseman so in love with the game that her attempt to retire four years ago lasted mere months, scored a goal to help the United States advance to the gold-medal game with a 9-1 semifinal win over Sweden. The victory at Vancouver's Canada Hockey Place guarantees Weiland will leave the Winter Olympics with either a gold or silver medal after they play arch-nemesis Canada on Thursday. "We're going to have to play a full 60 minutes and put our hearts on the line and not be afraid of what could happen and just play the game that we've loved to play since we were little," Weiland told reporters after the game. "It's a dream come true to be playing Canada. We're going to be ready." Weiland was credited with her team's seventh goal, though there is some dispute whether her shot from the left point found the net or deflected off a teammate's stick. The official scorer gave the goal to Weiland, who is known for her hard hits and hard work more than she is for her point production. In 72 games with the U.S. national team, she has scored 4 goals and 20 assists for 24 points. Two points -- one goal and one assist -- have come in Vancouver. "I actually need to see it on replay, because there was a lot of traffic in front (of the net)," Weiland said of the goal. "My teammates really put their bodies in the way to screen the goalie. As far as I can tell, I was the one that put it in. "If it tipped off somebody, I'm happy too. We're just happy to be moving on (after) all the hard work for so many years, especially the last six months together as a team. " A SHOOTING BARRAGE Weiland has been part of the U.S. national team on and off since 2002 -- mostly on. She's played in four world championships, winning gold in 2009 and 2008 and silver in 2007 and 2004. She was let go in the final round of cuts for the 2006 Olympic team, which earned a bronze medal in Turin. She retired from international hockey soon after that. But by March 2007, she was back on the national team and playing in the 2007 International Hockey Federation World Championships. "I had really retired from playing at an international level," Weiland told the Daily News on the eve of the 2007 championships. "I realized I was still hungry to play the game at a higher level, so I decided to start training again." Despite her many years on the national team, Vancouver marks Weiland's Olympic debut. She's part of a U.S. team that was a medal favorite coming into the eight-team Olympic tournament and has performed like one in each of its four games. The Americans have outscored opponents 40-2. But they haven't let their dominance go to their heads, Weiland said. Too many of her teammates played on a similarly dominant team at the 2006 Olympics, only to be edged in the semifinals by Sweden 3-2 in a shootout. The loss is considered the biggest upset in the history of women's hockey. Monday's rematch again pitted the United States against Swedish goaltender Kim Martin, who stopped the Americans four years ago with a 37-save performance. This time around, Martin again stopped 37 shots -- but nine others got past her. "Obviously, what happened in 2006 was disappointing to everybody with USA Hockey," U.S. coach Mark Johnson told reporters after the game. "We've talked about when you get the opportunity, to be ready. Today was a big hurdle to get across." SHOWDOWN WITH CANADA The Americans met the challenge with ease. They led 2-0 after one period and 5-1 after two periods and outshot the Swedes 46-12. "I think (it was) definitely in the back of everybody's mind that we make sure that we take care of business today and we don't look past anyone," Weiland said. "It's definitely in the back of our minds to send a message and make sure everybody in the world knew we're a different team and have a different mentality and we'll take it all the way." As for solving Martin, Weiland said the Americans worked hard to screen the goaltender who dashed their gold-medal hopes in 2006. "We just tried to take her eyes away so she couldn't see the puck and then when she was down, you've got to lift it over her or she's going to make your life very difficult," she said. With gold or silver now guaranteed, Weiland becomes the second woman from Alaska to earn an Olympic medal since women's hockey became part of the Games' lineup in 1998. Goaltender Pam Dreyer of Eagle River won bronze in 2006, which marked the only time a championship match in a major international tournament did not feature a Canada-U.S. showdown. The two rivals will tangle again at 2:30 p.m. Thursday, and Weiland thinks the Americans are in a good place heading into the championship. "We're really coming together at the right time," she said. "We're going to be ready."