Czechia stuns Canada, will face United States in IIHF women’s Under-18 gold medal game

Another year, another upset in the medal round at the IIHF Women’s World Under-18 Championships.

In the first semifinal on Saturday, Czechia, who was just six days removed from losing 8-1 to Canada, got revenge on the two-time defending gold medalists by stealing a 4-2 win.

It marked the first time Czechia has ever beaten Canada in the history of the tournament, punching the Czech’s ticket to the Gold Medal Game for the first time ever.

All of their key players stepped up, including Anzeka Cabelova, who scored twice. However, the star of the game was goaltender Aneta Senkova. The HC Stadion Litoměřice product made 45 saves, including a couple of marvelous stops to keep her team out in front.

Czechia has never played in a championship game in a top-division women’s tournament (Olympics, World Championships, U-18s), having only won bronze on two occasions at the Under-18s, the last coming in 2014.

This run to the Gold Medal Game has caught many by surprise. After finishing third in Group A with just one win, Czechia pulled out a 4-2 victory over the reigning silver medalists, Sweden, in the quarterfinals. Their all-time leading scorer in U-18 history, Adela Sapovalivova, who scored a goal and an assist against the Canadians on Saturday, is second in tournament scoring with 10 points in five games.

The United States comes into their first Gold Medal Game in two years, as they were shocked by the Swedes in last year’s semifinals last year. The U.S. faced another scare on Saturday against Finland.

At one point, Finland was level at one with the Americans, but goals from Mary Derrenbacher and Maggie Scannell gave the U.S. a lead they would not relinquish, advancing to the championship game for the 15th time with a 4-2 win.

Josie St. Martin scored twice on Finland, and leads her team with nine points. 15-year-old Derrenbacher has been one of the young surprises in the tournament, scoring two goals and five assists in five games.

If Czechia wants to pull out another upset, for a gold medal, they will need Senkova to stand on her head again. Even though the Americans might not have the same daunting offense the Canadians showed early on, Czechia also has to stay out of the box. What burned Finland on Saturday was giving the U.S. multiple power plays, two of which they converted on.

For the U.S., they cannot afford to take their opponent lightly. While they have outplayed the competition in every game, they have had a series of close finishes, by U.S. standards. If they can get the first goal again on Sunday, and avoid the seed of doubt, they will be well on their way to winning their record ninth gold medal.

The history between Czechia and the U.S. has not been favorable to the European squad, especially at the U-18s. The Americans have won all 12 meetings with the Czechs, outscoring them, 116-3. They have not met since the group stage in 2016, and Czechia has not scored against the Americans since the 2014 semifinals.

The U.S. is 8-6 in championship games, losing to Canada in their last appearance in 2022.

Canada is playing for bronze for the first time since 2018, when they beat Russia. Finland has finished third three times in the U-18s, grabbing bronze last in 2022. The two powers met in the group stage, with the Canadians dominating in a 10-0 win.