Few moments in Olympic history have left the resounding impact like that etched forever in out minds by the 1980 USA hockey team. In February 1980 the USA team faced the seemingly indomitable Soviet team at Lake Placid, New York. The exhilarating game that followed came to be known as one of America’s greatest sports achievements, the Miracle on Ice.

The United States and the Soviet Union had been engaged in the Cold War for decades leading up to the historic Miracle on Ice at the 1980 Winter Olympic Games. In the 1970s the Soviet team did not fair well and suffered several defeats. In 1979 the Soviets were back on top after winning the 1979 World Championship. The Americans, while competitive, were not the favorites going into the match. They were soundly defeated by the Soviet team 10 to 3 in an earlier exhibition game. As the games got underway most observers expected the American team to perform well enough take the bronze medal, but not the gold. The USA hockey team tied Sweden early in the games, and then won a victory over the Czechoslovakia team. The Americans went ever forward, defeating first Norway and then Romania. They were down early against Germany, but then shot ahead to claim victory over Germany.

Although the Soviet team started out slowly against Finland, they rallied to victory. They repeated their performance against Finland, when they faced the Canadian team by falling behind in the beginning but pushing forward to victory in the second half. The Soviet team was favored to win the gold as they entered the medal round. The underdog American team would be facing the undefeated Soviets first in the medal round.

At the end of the first period, the Soviet defense seemed to let up on their play. American Dave Christian took a long shot which was easily blocked by the Soviet goal tender. Mark Johnson drove between the defensemen and slammed a goal just as the buzzer sounded to end the period. The call was made for the American team, and after the break, the Soviet team went into a full assault of the Americans. The USA team held it’s own against the onslaught.

The Soviet team came back after the half time intermission to dominate the second period. Team USA goal tender Jim Craig fended off waves attacks by the Soviets. The American team put its superior speed to its advantage in the final 20 minutes of the game. When the Soviet team fumbled the puck, Johnson drove it home to even the score. The momentum was building for the 1980 USA hockey team as a clearing pass was intercepted by Mark Pavelich. Teammate Mike Eruzione threw a wrist shot past the opposition and scored pulling the Americans ahead of the Soviets 4 to 3. In the final 10 minutes of game play the Soviet team began to panic.
As the last seconds ticked off the clock, sports broadcaster Al Michaels called the game: “Eleven seconds. You got ten seconds, the countdown going on right now. Five seconds left in the game! Do you believe in miracles? Yes!”