(Chinese Ice Hockey Association-Liu Xi) The second-seeded United States and NO.4 seed Finland met in the first qualification-round game for both teams here this afternoon at the Baqu Arena.Team USA won the Group B with an 8-1 victory over Germany on April 4th and a 7-1 victory over Swizterland on April 6th. Mealwhile, Finland topped Japan,6-1, on April 5th and edged Sweden,3-2, in overtime on April 6th to finish a top Group C.

Both teams will also face Canada in the qualifying round with the top two finishers going on to the gold-medal game.

Today marks the 10th meeting between the United States and Finland in the IIHF World Women Championship play.The USA holds the advantage over the Finns,with 8 wins and a tie in the previous meetings.Two teams last met on April 8,2007,with Team USA coming out the 4-0 winner. Two of the the USA victories have come by way out shutout and Team USA has outscored Finland by a 43-16 margin. At the last world championship in 2007, the USA captured the silver medal while Finland finished fourth in the nine-team field.