CLEVELAND — As Cleveland Heights native Laila Edwards took the ice Tuesday in Milan, Italy, in the rivalry women's hockey preliminary matchup between Team USA and Team Canada, she had plenty of support here at home. That's thanks, in part, to a watch party held at The W Sports Bar in collaboration with the Cleveland Monsters.
Inside Cleveland's first and only women's sports bar, hockey fans from the area packed in to see Edwards on the ice.
Edwards has made history as the first Black woman to play for the U.S. Olympic women's ice hockey team and was on the biggest stage of the push for gold so far. As she did, fans at The W Sports Bar cheered her on.
"We're excited to be here, really to watch the USA-Canada game, but the biggest accomplishment really here is to continue to celebrate Laila Edwards, who is making her debut within the Olympics as the first black woman being on this Team USA," said Raven Payne, Cleveland Monsters senior manager of community impact and engagement.
The Monsters put together the watch party to support Edwards, who has supported Cleveland's AHL team and youth hockey for some time.
The event had a strong turnout with a mix of fans, from Monsters fans to Wisconsin fans and Edwards fans. And they all got to watch as Edwards scored one of the five goals Team USA had against Canada in the 5-0 shutout, the first time Canada has ever been shut out in the Olympic Games.
"I'm a born and raised Clevelander, so seeing an athlete from Cleveland on the Olympic stage is really cool," said fan Alyssa Klauminzer.
Edwards and Team USA will now automatically advance to the knockout stages as they eye a gold medal.
