It was more of a challenge than the United States, and more than it looked like they would get after a first period in which the Americans outshot the Czech Republic 18-0.

But the U.S. women’s hockey team is on to the semifinals of the Olympics after a 4-1 win over the Czech Republic on Friday afternoon in Beijing. They will play the winner of Finland-Japan in the semifinal.

“We are getting a lot of shots, but not a lot of goals,” coach Joel Johnson said. “I wouldn’t call it struggling to score, we are just not generating the highest quality scoring chances compared to settling for some shots that are fairly easy to save.”

The win didn’t come without a scare — the Czechs went up 1-0 right after their first shot on goal of the game, when Michaela Pajzlova put home a rebound at 4:59 of the second period. The Americans weren’t on the back foot for long, though. Hillary Knight tied it at one, crashing the net off Kendall Coyle Schofield’s shot, just 48 seconds after the Czech Republic had taken the lead.

The U.S. played most of the game in their offensive zone, dominating possession and shot margin — which finished 59-6 — but struggled to get anything by Czech goaltender Klara Peslarova, who had 54 saves. Even when Dani Cameronesi took a five-minute major for boarding in the second period, the US had the best chance of the ensuing power play, with Peslarova stonewalling Alex Carpenter on a breakaway.

Because of their goaltender’s play, the Czechs came into the last 20 minutes on even footing. But that didn’t last.

At 6:49 of the third, the U.S. finally broke through, with Lee Stecklein’s shot from the point deflecting off a Czech stick and past Peslarova to give the Americans a 2-1 lead. Savannah Harmon extended the lead to 3-1 with a power play goal on a rebound with 3:09 to go in the game, sealing the win. An empty-net goal from Schofield made it 4-1.

“We knew we had to turn it up and keep going,” Stecklein told reporters. “No matter how many shots we are getting, we have to find a way to put the puck in the net. It’s for our lives here, not much really needed to be said because everyone feels it.”

It wasn’t as dominant a victory as it could have been for the US as far as the scoreline goes. Rarely, though, was the result in doubt, and the Americans marched on to the semifinals in what they hope will be a repeat of their gold medal run in 2018.

They’re now 4-1 in the tournament, the lone blemish coming in a loss to Canada at the end of the group stage. The two countries could meet again in the finals.