BUFFALO – The Swiss won’t be sending Sweden a late Christmas card this year, after Tre Kronor dropped its final U18 Women’s World Championship preliminary round game 3-1 against Finland, sending the Finns to the playoffs and Switzerland to the relegation round on a goal difference tiebreaker. In Group A, USA and Canada are #1 and 2 and thus earn a bye to the semi-finals after rolling through the Russians and Czechs respectively in their games.
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Finland – Sweden 3-1 (0-1, 3-0, 0-0)
The Swedes and Finns met for the final game of Group B, with Sweden having a firm hold of the top seed and their northern neighbours needing three points to avoid the relegation round. But the plucky Finns came through, taking advantage of a lapse in discipline by the Swedes in the second period to secure a 3-1 victory and a trip to the playoff round.
“We knew what we had to do and we came out and played well tonight, it was our best game so far and I hope we can continue to get stronger in the playoffs,” said Anniina Kaitala.
Much to the delight of Switzerland, which needed Sweden to keep the Finns from getting three points and the number two seed, Swedish captain Jessica Adolfsson gave her team a 1-0 lead in the first period, scoring off a shot from the point during a late power play.
The game got rough in the second period as the teams traded a few checks along the boards. A roughing penalty on Felicia Linder led to a power play goal in the middle of the second period that breathed new life into Finland, when a shot by defenceman Ani Hietaharju was deflected in front by Nea Katajamaki for the tying goal.
Finland converted on another power play in the second period when batted in a loose puck in front of the net to give the Finns a 2-1 lead. The team then caught a huge break during a Swedish power play, as goaltender Emma Soderberg had a bad miscue when she tried to play the puck after it was cleared out of the Finnish zone. The puck bounced up and over the goalie’s stick, crossing the goal line and giving the Finns an insurance goal.
Down 3-1 after giving up two power play goals and a short-handed one following a misplay by their goaltender, Team Sweden was unable to overcome the deficit as Finland played tight defensively in the third to punch their ticket to the playoff round.
“Our coach told us after the game to forget the loss,” said Swedish captain Jessica Adolfsson. “We know the we have a good team and that we just need to work on some details so we can be better in the playoffs.”
Sweden will face the Czech Republic in the quarter-final game tomorrow (winner faces USA), while Finland takes on Russia (winner faces Canada).
USA – Russia 7-1 (2-0, 3-1, 2-0)
The Unites States needed a win to seal up the top seed in Group A but had no problem dispatching Russia in a 7-1 romp. Paced by a hat trick from Melissa Samoskevich, the American offence overwhelmed the Russians, and is firing on all cylinders going into the playoffs with an undefeated record.
Team USA ran into penalty trouble early on, but in the latter half of the period Jincy Dunne made a great interception of a Russian clearing attempt at the blue line and dropped a backhand pass to Samoskevich coming into the Russian zone. Samoskevich streaked in and cut towards the Russian net, slotting it home for the game’s first goal.
Samoskevich got another one right before the end of the period, getting the puck at the outside of the right circle and throwing it on net. The puck deflected off a Russian defender and into the net for the 2-0 lead.
Russia cut into the lead just over 30 seconds into the second after some sloppy defensive play by the Americans allowed Anna Shokhina to find Kristina Korotkikh with a pass in front of the net. But Team USA rebounded soon after when Alex Woken stole the puck from a defender behind the Russian net and scored a wraparound goal to put her team back up by two.
The Americans then took control of the game 4-1 as Patricia Marshall chased Russian goaltender Valeria Tarakanova from the net with a power play goal, scoring after Samoskevich missed her chance at a hat trick on a wide open net. Woken then assisted on a goal by Presley Norby giving the Americans a four-goal cushion going into the third period.
Samoskevich did eventually earn the hat trick in the third period, knocking in a rebound to bring her tournament total to four. Sophia Shaver added another to complete the 7-1 rout.
Canada – Czech Republic 7-1 (1-1, 4-0, 2-0)
Canada rolled on to a 7-1 victory over the Czech Republic in its final game of the preliminary round. Captain Sarah Potomak had four points and earned Best Player honours as the Canadians clinched both a playoff spot and an automatic bye to the semi-finals.
The Czechs surprisingly got the better of the Canadians early on, getting on the scoreboard first at 11:18 of the first period when team captain Michaela Pejzlova jumped on a loose puck in the slot area and put it past goaltender Marlene Boissonnault.
But late in the period Canada’s top line struck back with a goal from Elizabeth Giguere, her third of the tournament, assisted by Sarah Potomak and Samantha Cogan. Then early in the second it was Giguere’s turn to set up Potomak for a score.
After Sarah-Eve Coutu-Godbout put her team up 3-1, the Potomak-Giguere-Micah Hart line came through again, this time on the power play as Potomak collected her tournament-leading sixth point. Then Lisa Agnew gave the Canadians a commanding 5-1 lead going into the final period with her first of the tournament.
Switzerland – Japan 3-1 (0-0, 1-0, 2-1)
Switzerland took care of business in its final preliminary round game, sending Japan to the relegation round with a 3-1 victory. However the victory was short-lived as Finland defeated Sweden in the later game, meaning the Swiss will play Japan in the best-of-three relegation series.
Goaltender Andrea Brandli stopped 25 of 26 shots in the game, while a goal by Kaleigh Quennec and two from Alina Muller provided the scoring for the Swiss.
Japan, needing a big enough win and some help from Finland in order to avoid the relegation round, came out firing against Switzerland in the first period, generating a few good scoring chances but unable to get any pucks in the net.
Then with 9:17 to go and having just killed off a penalty, Switzerland’s Kaleigh Quennec scored the game’s first goal with a shot coming off a two-on-one rush that dribbled past Japanese goaltender Ayu Tonosaki.
Switzerland added another in the third period with a nice goal from forward Alina Muller, coming in untouched from the side of the net and beating Tonosaki between the legs with a backhand deke. Muller added another late in the third period, deking Tonosaki on the power play before slipping the puck under her arm to put the game away.
Japan got a late consolation goal from with 23 seconds left in the game, but the result means that the Japanese will compete in the relegation round for the second straight year. However the will get a shot at revenge agaisn thte Swiss, who will join them in the best-of-three series beginning Friday at noon.
The playoff round also begins Friday with Finland facing Russia at 15:30 and the Czech Republic taking on Sweden at 19:00 in the quarter-final round.
ADAM STEISS |
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