2024 IIHF Women’s World Championship Day 4 Recap: Finland gives U.S. a fight, Germany stays unbeaten

While there were just two games in the Women’s World Championship on Saturday, there was not a shortage of action, as a couple of teams did their part to stay in the conversation to finish atop their respective groups.

Let’s see what happened in Utica:

Group A

USA battles to win over Finland

The analytics and numbers might say one thing, but the United States had a tough time getting by Finland on Saturday night, but they improved to 3-0 with a 5-3 win.

The game had a rather surprising start to it. Though the U.S. had the bulk of the opportunities in the first period, it was Finland who struck first. KalPa star Elisa Holopainen opened the scoring minutes into the game.

However, the lead did not last long, as Abbey Murphy finished off a great feed from Hannah Bilka 64 seconds later.

Team USA would go out in front for the first time later in the period, as Hilary Knight scored her second goal of the tournament with just a few minutes left in the first. Yet, Finland, despite getting outshot 15-4 in the frame, fought back. Holopainen’s second of the period sent the two teams into the intermission level at two.

It looked like the Americans were going to blow the game open early in the second period. After PWHL Minnesota rookie Taylor Heise potted her second goal of the tournament, teammate Kendall Coyne Schofield got a lucky one for her second as well, putting the U.S. up by two.

Finland held firm for the rest of the period, thanks to some solid goaltending from Anni Keisala. Just like the first period, they got one back within one in the final minute, as Sofianna Sundelin scored on the breakaway to make it a 4-3 game heading into the third.

However, that is as close as they got. The U.S. received an important insurance marker just 15 seconds into the final period, as Coyne Schofield notched her second of the night. Finland was unable stage much of a comeback, mustering up just four shots on goal.

The U.S. outshot Finland, 45-12. Keisala ended up making 41 saves in the losing effort, and was credited with the secondary assist in Sundelin’s goal. Aerin Frankel only made nine saves in the American net.

Heise, Knight and Murphy all had two points in the win.

The U.S. (3-0-0-0) has a day off before its marquee matchup with Canada on Monday. Finland (0-0-0-3) have a little bit of an easier test on Monday, as they meet with Switzerland.

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Group B

Abstreiter stands tall for Germany

The opening game of the day saw two teams trying to stay in quarterfinal contention, and avoid relegation. Thanks to a solid outing between the pipes, Germany scored their second win of the tournament, beating Japan, 4-1.

It was a relatively sluggish start to the game. Both teams seemed to struggle to click on either end of the rink, with only 12 shots on goal from either side in the opening 20 minutes.

Both teams started to create opportunities in the second period, though it took until the late stages of the frame before we finally had our first goal. A broken play in front of the Japanese net saw Jule Schiefer find a loose puck, putting in her second of the tournament to give Germany the lead. Less than three minutes later, on the power play, a Carina Strobel point shot was tipped in by Bernadette Karpf to put the Germans up by two heading into the third.

That was when Sandra Abstreiter came up big. The PWHL Ottawa netminder faced 17 shots in the final period of regulation, having to help kill off three Japanese power plays. Her shutout bid was cut short with less than 90 seconds remaining in regulation when Ottawa teammate Akane Shiga potted her second of the tournament.

However, empty-net goals from Germany’s Luisa Welcke and Nicola Eisenschmid erased any chance of a comeback.

Japan ended up outshooting Germany, 30-29, with Abstreiter making 29 saves in her second win of the tournament. Defender Franziska Feldmeir was named the team’s player of the game after assisting on Schiefer’s goal.

Ayaka Hitosato was given Japan’s player of the game honor after picking up an assist on Shiga’s goal. Riko Kawaguchi made 25 saves in the losing effort.

Germany (2-0-0-0) is now in the driver’s seat of advancing to the quarterfinal. They face a tough task when they take on Sweden on Monday. Japan (0-0-1-1) will need some help to avoid relegation, and some luck as they take on Sweden on Sunday.

Three Stars

1. Kendall Coyne Schofield, F, United States: Coyne Schofield had a slow start in the PWHL this season, but she has found her stride over the last month, which has carried into the Women’s Worlds. After scoring twice against Finland, she now leads the tournament with six points.
2. Elisa Holopainen, F, Finland: After scoring 57 points in Naisten Liiga, Holopainen’s scoring touch will be important for Finland if they want to advance beyond the quarterfinals. She has the keen ability to be in the right place at the right time.
3. Sandra Abstreiter, G, Germany: For someone who has hardly played in the PWHL this season, and only had to face 12 shots against Denmark in her first game, Abstreiter looked like she had no game rust against Japan. She has given up two goals on 42 shots so far.

For the full schedule, go to IIHF.com