BURLINGTON – Germany swept the best-of-three Relegation Round series with Slovakia with a 3-1 win at Cairns Arena. The win gives the Germans a place in Ottawa next year while the Slovaks are now demoted to Division I play. Goals by Julia Zorn in the first—short-handed, no less--and Manuela Anwander in the second gave the Germans a solid 2-0 lead after 40 minutes, but the Slovaks made things interesting early in the third when Nicol Cupkova cut the lead in half. Tanja Eisenschmid got the team’s second short-handed goal of the game later in the period to ensure the victory. Russia-Sweden (0-1, 0-0, 1-0, 0-1) Elin Holmlov’s goal 34 seconds into overtime gave Sweden a 2-1 win over Russia in the fifth-place game. In an odd twist, the Russians finished sixth in the tournament despite not winning a game, while Germany (seventh) and Slovakia (eighth) each won at least once. Pernilla Winberg got things going for Sweden in the first, scoring the only goal of the opening period at 15:08 on the power play. A goalless second period set the stage for a Russian comeback in the final period when Marina Sergina tied the game midway through to force the overtime. ANDREW PODNIEKS