Japan – Korea 12-0 (5-0, 6-0, 1-0) / Game Sheet
The second IIHF Women’s Challenge Cup of Asia kicked off today in the middle of scenic, mountainous environment of Nikko with a game between Korea and Japan.
Japan, currently in 9th position in the IIHF ranking, started strong against its opponent, ranked 28th, by taking a lead with three quick goals at 0:28 by Saki Simozawa, at 4:49 by Ami Nakamura and at 6:02 by Tomo Eguchi. Japan remained in control of the game throughout the period with Korea having only two shots on Japan’s goal guarded by Azusa Nakaoku while Korea’s Shin So Jung had to stop the puck 28 times in the period. With goals from Tomoko Sakagami at 16:43 and Chiho Osawa at 17:27, Japan led 5-0 going to second period.
The host team remained the dominant team in the second period as well. Simozawa scored her second goal after only seven seconds of play, and at 22:56, her linemate Yuka Hirano hit the back of the net, too. Yurie Adachi, Hirano, Naho Terashima and Simozawa extended the lead for Team Japan in the period with Team Korea having to maintain its defensive stance with only two shots on Shizuka Takahashi, who came in for the second period.
With both teams already looking forward to their next game in the tournament, the third period remained scoreless for almost the first half before Adachi got a piece of the wrist shot taken by Ami Nakamura from the blue line, deflecting the puck past Shin So Jung. That goal remained as the only one in third period with Japan taking a clear win in its first game over the tournament newcomer Korea.
