Austria’s U18 women lose second World Cham­pi­onship game against Germany

As against Italy, Austria started Kiara Matt in goal against Germany. Head Coach Mario Bellina had said after the narrow opening defeat: "We need to focus more on our own game, dictate the play and not wait at the start to see what the opposition do!"

The ÖEHV team put that message into practice at the start of the game and took the lead after almost eleven minutes. Vanessa Picka made it 1:0 after an assist from Artemis Tekin (12 min.). Red-White-Red continued to set the tone but failed to extend their lead. 11:3 shots on goal after 20 minutes also statistically underlined the Austrians’ superiority.

Early in the second period, Austria took their first penalty and the DEB team capitalised on the numerical advantage to equalise at 1:1 through Charleen Poindl (23 min.). Just one minute after the equaliser, Austria had their first power play but remained without a goal. Shortly afterwards, the Germans, who were now on top, had turned the game around: Alexandra Boico made it 2:1 (28 min.). 

Germany’s U18 team pressed on, and it was Alexandra Boico again who extended the lead to 3:1 (33 min.). The Austrians then survived two further penalty kills, but carried the remaining time of the second numerical disadvantage into the final period. Austria pushed for a goal to reduce the deficit in the opening minutes of the final period, but DEB goalkeeper Hannah Loist did not concede during that phase. Just under three minutes from the end, Alexandra Boico completed her hat-trick to seal the result at 4:1 (58 min.).

Head Coach Mario Bellina analysed the game against Germany: "Germany were surprised by how we played in the first period. We outplayed them, all five players on the ice were always skating superbly, forechecking and working hard. We implemented what we had set out to do perfectly. We put Germany under so much pressure that we should have built a bigger lead. Unfortunately, we were unable to do so during that phase. After conceding the shorthanded equaliser, we became increasingly passive as the middle period went on. Germany then played it quite simply; they looked to get the puck towards the net somehow, had a strong net-front presence and converted their rebounds. Unfortunately, we could no longer turn the game around in the final period. We were able to generate more pressure again, but ultimately could not create as many chances!"

Bellina knows what is needed for the next three games: "If we play as we did in the first period, we can cause every team problems. Unfortunately, we lack consistency across all three periods. We switch off for 20 minutes or do not play well for half a game, and then we run into problems. We have to stop that. We have a day off on Tuesday. We go into the next game with confidence, but everyone knows it will not get any easier. We have to learn to deal with the pressure. And we have to deliver the performance from the first 20 minutes against Germany for 60 minutes!"

Norway up next on Wednesday

After a day’s rest, Austria’s U18 women return to World Championship action in Budapest on Wednesday. Norway await from 12:30, having lost 2:4 to Germany in their opening game on Sunday before suffering a 0:3 defeat to hosts Hungary in the evening game on the public holiday.

2025 IIHF ICE HOCKEY U18 WOMEN'S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION IA

05 January 2025 - 11 January 2025, Budapest (HUN)

Participants: Germany, Italy, Hungary, Austria, France, Norway

Germany vs. Austria 4:1 (0:1,3:0,1:0)
Mon, 06 January 2025, 12:30, Tüskecsarnok
Germany scorers: Charleen Poindl (23 min./PP1), Alexandra Boico (28 min., 33 min., 58 min.)
Austria scorer: Vanessa Picka (12 min.)

Other games:

Norway vs. Austria

Wed, 08 January 2025, 12:30, Tüskecsarnok

Austria vs France

Fri, 10 January 2025, 16:00, Tüskecsarnok

Hungary vs Austria

Sat, 11 January 2025, 19:30, Tüskecsarnok

Already played:

Austria vs Italy 3:4 (0:1,1:1,2:2)
Sun, 05 January 2025, 12:30, Tüskecsarnok
Austria goalscorers: Emma Lintner (36', 54'/PP1), Vanessa Picka (50')
Italy goalscorers: Maddalena Bedont (20'/PP1), Manuela Heidenberger (32', 42'), Eleonora Pinti (49')

All information on the official IIHF website