Austria finish fourth at the World Cham­pi­onship after over­time win in goal-fest against the Nether­lands

"It is definitely nice that we can finish the tournament with a good feeling. Nevertheless, I am a little stricter today than usual. I think a major weakness of ours at this World Championship was that we always conceded straight after scoring. That is something we have to take forward and improve. We have to be honest about that. Otherwise, I am pleased that three players scored their first World Championship goals," reflected Captain Anna Meixner on the final World Championship game.

And it was a real emotional rollercoaster. Just ten seconds had been played when the Netherlands were already 1:0 ahead. Austria, the better team, quickly equalised through Emma Hofbauer, before Laura Lüftenegger put her team ahead 2:1 shortly afterwards for the first time.

The Netherlands made it 2:2 in the 15 minute and had more shots overall throughout the game. However, Austria created the better chances and, early in the middle period, Theresa Schafzahl and Karolina Hengelmüller made it 4:2. Just 34 seconds later, the Netherlands had reduced the deficit to 3:4, before Austria restored their 5:3 lead through Schafzahl another 33 seconds later.

In the closing stages, the Netherlands were clinical, converting two power plays to equalise. Austria were equally composed in overtime when they had a player advantage, with Annika Fazokas once again on hand.

Head Coach Andreas Bröms: "That's hockey! It goes back and forth. We will analyse this game thoroughly again. We are not really satisfied with the result. We need to be smarter in situations like these, when we are two goals ahead. We gave the Netherlands too much space and took some unnecessary penalties. The Dutch used that to get back into the game. We had incredible support from the fans throughout the tournament and we really wanted to give something back to them again today, so that they can be proud of us."

Anna Meixner: "I think it is really difficult to have to play two more games knowing that we cannot achieve anything else. We really wanted to move women's ice hockey forward and make a statement about all the hard work we put in during the season. I think we found a good conclusion with the final two games and the two wins."

2024 IIHF Ice Hockey Women's World Championship 2024

Austria vs. Netherlands 6:5 after overtime (2:2,3:1,0:2,1:0)
Sat, 27 April 2024, 20:25, Klagenfurt, Heidi Horten Arena, 2.385 spectators
Austria scorers: Emma Hofbauer (5 min), Laura Lüftenegger (7 min), Theresa Schafzahl (31 and 34 min), Karolina Hengelmüller (33 min), Annika Fazokas (63 min/PP1)
Netherlands scorers: Kayleigh Hamers (1 and 15 min/PP1), Bieke van Nes (34 min), Julie Zwarthoed (56 min/PP1), Jet Milders (60 min/PP1)

Official line-ups

Already played:

Norway vs. Austria 3:2 (0:0,0:1,3:1)
Sun, 21 April 2024, 18:30, Klagenfurt, 1.800 spectators
Norway scorers: Millie Rose Sirum (42/PP1, 48), Josefine Biseth Engmann (46)
Austria goalscorer: Annika Fazokas (24, 57/PP2)

Austria vs. South Korea 6:0 (2:0,0:0,4:0)
Mon, 22 April 2024, 19:30, Klagenfurt, Heidi Horten Arena, 1.367 spectators
Austria goalscorers: Annika Fazokas (17), Anna Meixner (19, 41, 59/PP1), Lena Dauböck (57), Tamara Grascher (58)

France vs. Austria 5:3 (1:1,1:1,3:1)
Wed, 24 April 2024, 19:30, Klagenfurt, Heidi Horten Arena, 1.942 spectators
France goalscorers: Estelle Duvin (15, 50, 60/EN), Clara Rozier (35), Emma Nonnenmacher (51)
Austria goalscorers: Lena Dauböck (11), Theresa Schafzahl (23/PP1, 43)

Austria vs. Hungary 3:2 after penalties (2:2,0:0,0:0,0:0,1:0)
Fri, 26 April 2024, 20:25, Klagenfurt, Heidi Horten Arena, 2.279 spectators
Austria goalscorers: Annika Fazokas (20), Lena Artner (20) - Anja Trummer and Anna Meixner score in the penalty shootout
Hungary goalscorers: Mira Seregély (3/PP1), Bernadett Nemeth (7)

All results are available HERE!