BUFFALO – Team Canada will have the chance to once again defend its U18 women’s hockey crown and also claim a fourth straight gold medal at the 2015 IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship, after defeating Russia in the semi-final game. Shae Labbe had the game-winning goal as the Canadian offence peppered the Russians for over 50 shots on net.  

The victory means that the three-time defending champions secured a date with either the United States or the Czech Republic in the gold medal game on Monday night. In the relegation round, Switzerland defeated Japan 3-2 in the shootout to secure its place in the 2016 U18 Women’s Worlds. 

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Canada – Russia 3-1 (1-1, 1-0, 1-0)

Despite enjoying a dominant 38-8 shots on goal advantage, Canada opened the third period up by just one goal thanks to a heroic effort through two periods by Russian goalie Valeria Tarakanova.

But the Canadians got the all-important insurance score when a shot from the left circle from Shae Labbe was redirected in front of the net by Sarah Potomak, giving the Canadian star forward five goals and three assists at the 2015 U18 Women’s Worlds.

"We knew that the pucks were going to go in eventually and just kept pouring shots," said Potomak. "We've been down before but it comes down to preparation and we treated it as if it was a 0-0 game the whole way." 

In last year’s tournament Russia gave Canada its closest game, shutting out the Canadians for three periods before losing 1-0 in overtime in the semi-final game.

It didn’t take the Russians long to get on the board in this year’s semi-final rematch. Forward Fanuza Kadirova, who has been on fire lately for Russia – scoring the team’s last two goals including the game winner in the quarter-finals – got the puck all alone in the Canadian zone after a great pass up the ice from Landysh Falyakhova.

Kadirova initially lost control of the puck but recovered and beat goaltender Marlene Boissonnault with a backhand shot, putting Canada behind for the first time in a U18 Women’s Worlds playoff game since the opening period of the 2013 gold medal game against the United States.

Canada answered with under five minutes to go in the period, when Lindsay Agnew got the puck in the Russian zone, shrugged off the defender and found Jaycee Gebhard with a pass in front from behind the net to knot things up at 1-1.

Neither team was able to get ahead for most of the second period until a faceoff win by Potomak at center ice ended with the puck on the stick of linemate Elizabeth Giguere. Giguere took it into the Russian zone, undressed the Russian defender with a great deke before cutting to the net and finding Shae Labbe open on the doorstep for the 2-1 lead.

Though facing far less shots than her Russian counterpart, Boissonnault shut down the Russian offence the rest of the way, while the aggressive Canadian forwards kept their opponent on their heels, punching Canada’s ticket to the 2015 IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship gold medal game.

"She did an amazing job, she's an amazing goalie for having stopped that many shots," said Boissonnault of Tarakanova.

The three-time defending champions will await the winner of the USA-Czech Republic semi-final, the loser of which will face Russia for the bronze medal. Both medal games are on Monday.  

Switzerland – Japan 3-2 SO (1-0, 1-2, 0-0)

Despite a valiant effort from Japan, Switzerland came through in the shootout to win the relegation series 2-0 and send Japan to the 2015 Division I championship.

Alina Muller was the only player to convert in the shootout, giving newly-promoted Switzerland another chance to compete at the top division next year.

Tied 2-2 in the third period and needing a win to avoid being relegated to Division I next year, Japan did a great job putting pressure on Swiss goaltender Andrea Brandli but was unable to get any pucks past her in regulation time. At the other end Japan’s netminder Ayu Tonosaki kept her team alive with a late stop on Swiss forward Alina Muller on a two-on-one rush, setting up a do-or-die overtime for her team.

Neither team could solve things in overtime despite a couple of great chances on both ends. In the shootout the only player to score was 16-year-old Swiss prodigy Alina Muller, who lived up to her billing as one of the world’s top women’s hockey prospects with a beautiful shootout goal, coming in wide from the left of the net, bringing the puck from between her legs to finish off with a backhand shot that Tonosaki had no chance to stop.

“At first I didn’t know what I was going to do,” said Muller, who earned a nod as one of Switzerland’s top players in the toutnament following the game. “But when I got the puck I decided to go for it.”

Switzerland scored the game’s first goal at the tail end of the first period, when Kaleigh Quennec took a shot from outside the right circle near the boards, sneaking it in above the arm of Tonosaki just as the Swiss power play expired. Three minutes into the second period Japan evened things up when Chisato Miyasaki came down the ice along the boards and cut into the net, feathering the puck towards Brandli, who stopped the initial shot but gave up the rebound to Mayo Sakamoto.

But the Swiss answered two minutes later when Stefanie Wetli shot the puck at the Japanese net from the point on a Swiss power play, where it bounced off a Japanese defender and into the net putting the Swiss back up by one.

Japan wasn’t ready to call it an end to the tournament just yet. Facing a Swiss two-man advantage, team captain Haruka Toko took advantage of a misplay by the Swiss defender, getting the loose puck at the blue line and scoring on a breakaway to tie the score again.

But the scoring for the Japanese dried up after that and despite a good tournament where they were among the top four teams in shots on net and lost each game by a close margin they will be relegated to Division I next year. Switzerland meanwhile, a country that was just promoted to the top division this year, hopes to aim higher in 2016.

“I’m very happy, we never gave up and I think we deserved to stay,” said Muller, who is eligible to compete for the team next year. “It is tough for Japan because they were a good team, but I’m sure they will come back up next year. For us we want to at least reach the quarter-finals next year, then see what happens.”


ADAM STEISS