Hockey fans in the Chicago area gathered Thursday to watch the U.S. Olympic women’s team — featuring several players with Illinois ties — win the gold medal in Milan in a 2-1 overtime thriller against Canada.

Hilary Knight, raised in Lake Forest, scored the tying goal with 2:04 remaining in the third period before Megan Keller’s OT winner.

NBC had a camera stationed in Orland Park, where close to 100 people gathered in the large basement of Michael Schofield Sr., the father-in-law of U.S. veteran and Palos Heights native Kendall Coyne Schofield.

Schofield recalled hosting a similar party when the U.S. team won the gold in 2018 in South Korea. That one didn’t end until about 3 a.m.

“It was late, but everyone was still going crazy,” Schofield said.

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Deb Kwiatkowski, a family relative, said she admires Coyne Schofield for being a crusader for women’s sports. Growing up on the South Side in the 1970s, Kwiatkowski said, there were so few opportunities for female athletes that her parents signed her up for a baseball team and claimed she was a boy named Dan.

“It’s fantastic what she does for women’s sports,” she said of Coyne Schofield. “It’s amazing. I go up to Minnesota to watch her play for the (Professional Women’s Hockey League’s) Frost. It’s a real thing.”

Palos Heights Mayor Bob Straz was a guest at the party, and his city is having quite a good sports year. Indiana center Pat Coogan helped the Hoosiers football team win the national championship in January.

“Aside from being a great athlete, Kendall is a great person too,” Straz said. “When you watch her on TV and you see the words ‘Palos Heights’ on the screen, it really puts us on the map.

“And Abbey (Murphy) putting Evergreen Park on the map is great too. It’s good for all of the South Side of Chicago to be represented because over the years, we have been the foster child in the area.”

Barraco’s on 95th Street in Evergreen Park held a watch party for Murphy and Team USA. Upon entering, there was a “Go Abbey” banner that rapidly filled with different colored messages from the local faithful.

If you didn’t bring your own No. 37 jersey, free white T-shirts were offered to everyone who came into the restaurant — at least until the pile was evaporated by 11:10 a.m., an hour before puck drop.

Sitting in the second booth down was Murphy’s aunt Mauren, who was all smiles when friends and family spoke to her. She had a mimosa in front of her as she eagerly waited to watch her niece compete for the gold.

“It’s an honor even to be playing this far,” the giddy 77-year-old said.

Murphy won a silver medal in 2022, but she told her family before heading overseas there’s something different about standing above the rest at the end.

“(We) talked a couple of times, (she’s) very grounded,” Mauren said. “I don’t know if she gets excited or not. She’s zeroed in on that.”

Murphy’s hockey career began at the Southwest Ice Arena with the St. Jude hockey club. That’s about 7 miles south of her high school, Mother McAuley.

A second banner briefly covered the signature-filled one at Barraco’s that featured a photo of Murphy and the rest of the club. She was in the center smiling with her teammates after her first win.

She stood out in the photo for many reasons but mainly because she was the only girl on the team. Her coaches knew right away that Murphy would be special.

“Right away when I saw Abbey play, she was on a team of all boys and it was real quick,” St. Jude co-coach Dave Reardon said. “You can figure out that she had something special when she skated circles around the boys at the age of 11, 10, (even) 8.”

Added co-coach Jerry Kruzich: “There was a tournament where we were down 1-0 in the third period. Abbey scored the tying goal, and then we called a timeout to talk to the kids and say, ‘Is anybody going to be hurt if they miss a shift?’

“We called Murph’s number because she was the best of our five best. She went end to end, got the defenseman and the goalie to commit, slid the puck across to a gaping net, and one of our better players tapped the puck in for the game-winner.

“Dave and I looked at each other and said, ‘We’re going to see this girl in the Olympics someday.’ We just knew.”

And that’s how they spent Thursday afternoon, watching their protege compete for Olympic gold. They woudn’t take any credit for her talents, calling Murphy’s skill “God-given.”

They did make sure to send good luck to their former player before her flight to Italy.

Said Reardon: “I said: ‘100% every shift, nothing less. That’s all you can really give and it’s all we can really expect of you. I wish you the best of luck and safe travels and go get that gold.’”

The two coaches watched at Barraco’s with about 250 other supporters. The crowd cheered and then groaned at each U.S. near-goal, and a wave of anxiety clouded the restaurant when Kristin O’Neill’s second-period goal gave Canada a 1-0 lead.

The same was true at the Schofield home.

“It’s a good thing we had paramedics here because my heart was pounding hard the whole time,” said Michael Schofield Sr., who’s the former fire chief of Orland Park. “I’m so happy for the girls. Losing 1-0 with three minutes left — I can’t even imagine the pressure they were going through.”

Guests at the watch party at Michael Schofield’s home in Orland Park cheer Feb. 19, 2026, during the gold medal women’s hockey game. (Jeff Vorva/for the Daily Southtown)

After Knight tied it up, the U.S. fans’ prayers were answered in overtime. Keller put on a nasty set of moves, got past the defense and scored the golden goal — a perfect ending to one of the most dominant runs in Olympic history.

“I don’t think you will ever see a team like that again,” said Jim Caliendo, Schofield’s uncle. “That is the most dominant team you are ever going to see.”

During the game, Reardon was asked how he would react if Team USA and Murphy won a gold medal. As calm as can be, he said that she will win a gold medal.

The Barraco’s crowd erupted as the gold medal was put around Murphy’s neck. Reardon could be heard in the celebratory crowd saying, “Didn’t I tell you?”

He wouldn’t take credit for Murphy’s talent, but he hit that prediction right on the nail.

“It’s great for us to see, but it’s even more important for Abbey and the rest of the girls on that team to see the support.” Reardon said. “It puts a fire and a drive in the players to know that we’ve got their back here at home, we’re cheering them on and we want to see them succeed.”

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/19/olympics-us-womens-hockey-watch-party/