By RYAN HENSELER

At high noon tomorrow in Sochi, Team USA will battle Canada in men’s hockey with a spot in the gold medal game on the line. The game is a rematch of the final of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, which Canada won in overtime.

The U.S. is riding high following an epic win against Russia in the group stage, in which TJ Oshie became a cult hero by scoring four shootout goals to propel the Americans to a 3-2 victory. The win has been widely considered the greatest U.S. hockey win since the 1980 Miracle on Ice.

The Olympics are famous for promoting national unity and no Winter Olympics event accomplishes this goal better than hockey. Since the Olympics have begun, shirts bearing the USA emblem have been a common sight across campus.

The Twitterverse also exploded following the victory against Russia, with hashtags like #Oshie trending throughout the day. Viral videos also surfaced of raucous celebrations of the game-winning goal from bars around the country, mostly attributed to the popular blog Bartsoolsports.com.

The excitement leading up to the face-off versus Canada has been almost tangible among sports fans across the country. In a way, that is the true magic of the Olympics. Once every two years, everyone in the U.S., though fans of many different sports teams, can unite under one common goal.

For once, Yankees and Red Sox, Celtics and Lakers, Duke and North Carolina’s fans can all cheer for the same team. Go USA!