Maddie Rooney made history as the first native Minnesotan to start in net for the U.S. Women's Olympic Team Sunday, and then she backstopped the U.S. into the win column.

The University of Minnesota Duluth 20-year old redshirt junior made 23 saves in her Olympic debut, a 3-1 win over Finland in the opening game game for the U.S. in Pyeongchang, South Korea.  Finland's lone goal against Rooney came with just six seconds remaining in the first period, a pass behind the net that resulted in a one-timer that Rooney had almost no chance to save.  Everything else was fair game to the Andover, Minn. native, including a flurry of saves made in the final five minutes of the game when the U.S. was forced on to its penalty kill.

The game was also the Olympic debut for former Bulldog All-American defenseman Sidney Morin.

In the other Sunday game, Canada defeated the Olympic Athletes from Russia 5-0.  It marked the 100th international game for two-time UMD All-American defenseman Jocelyne Larocque, who is currently playing in her second Olympics with Canada and is an alternate team captain in Korea. 

"When I was nine years old, I remember watching the 1998 Olympic gold medal game between Canada and the U.S," Larocque told the team's official website. "That is when I decided one day I wanted to represent Canada."

The game was heavily influenced by all three former Bulldogs representing the Canadian side, and forward Haley Irwin netted her first goal of the Olympics after tipping a power play shot at 4:13 of the second period to give Canada a 2-0 lead.  Brigette Lacquette, an All-American defenseman for UMD over her tenure,  picked up her first Olympic point after she had the first assist on Canada's fourth goal at 8:41 of the third period.

Lacquette, like Rooney and Morin all made their Olympic debuts Sunday.