Austria's U18 women's team lose to Norway in over­time at the World Cham­pi­onship after 3:0 lead

Head Coach Mario Bellina once again placed his trust in goaltender Kiara Matt for the third World Championship game at the Tüskecsarnok against Norway. After successfully killing off their first penalty, Austria took control and, as against Germany, took a 1:0 lead through Vanessa Picka (10th minute).

Unlike in the first two games, the Austrians quickly managed to extend their lead in the opening period: just three and a half minutes later, Emma Lintner made it 2:0 (13th minute). And it got even better: just under two minutes later, Hana Ostadal made it 3:0 (15th minute). Just under four minutes before the end of the period, Matt was beaten for the first time as Tiril Arntzen pulled one back to make it 1:3 for Norway (17th minute).

28 seconds before the buzzer, Austria took another penalty and carried the remaining time on the penalty kill into the second period, but successfully saw out that phase. Three minutes into the second period, the ÖEHV side had their first power-play opportunity but failed to score. Austria then had to kill off two penalties, with the special teams and goalie Matt preserving the two-goal lead.

The match remained an exciting and open affair, also because Austria failed to convert their next two power plays. Norway, meanwhile, pulled back to 2:3 on the power play 47 seconds before the end of the period through Hedda Fredriksen (40th minute). Both teams were nervous, and five-on-five hockey was a rarity in the second period.

Austria began the final period on the power play, but again failed to score. The Austrians then took four penalties in succession and even had to survive a 3:5 penalty kill. Norway laid siege to the Austrian goal, but Kiara Matt did not allow another goal.

After another missed power-play opportunity, the match remained dramatic: Norway pulled goaltender Tuva Are-Ekstrøm and equalised at 3:3 through Miriam Toet-Uddveg with four seconds remaining (60th minute). That sent the game to overtime, where Kajsa Bråten scored Norway's 4:3 winner after exactly 64 seconds (62th minute).

For Head Coach Mario Bellina the many penalty kills were the decisive factor: "We started very well; it was a good first period. We stuck to almost everything we had set out to do. Unfortunately, we took far too many penalties over the course of the game. In the second period, we no longer had the quality we showed in the first period. There were no major mistakes, but things simply did not really come off. The penalties continued in the final period, and above all they were unnecessary penalties. We had nine two-minute penalties, which means we played almost an entire period shorthanded. That naturally takes its toll, and we paid the price for it at the end of the game. We had three points until four seconds from the end; now we have one point. That means we have to do better against France!"

France up next on Friday

After a day off, Austria's U18 women return to action at the World Championship in Budapest on Friday. France await from 16:00, having lost their first two games against hosts Hungary and Italy by 1:3 in each case.

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

Norway vs. Austria 4:3 OT (1:3,1:0,1:0,1:0)
Wed, 08 January 2025, 12:30, Tüskecsarnok
Norway goalscorers: Tiril Arntzen (17th minute), Hedda Fredriksen (40th minute/PP1), Miriam Toet-Uddveg (60th minute), Kajsa Bråten (62th minute)
Austria goalscorers: Vanessa Picka (10th minute), Emma Lintner (13th minute), Hana Ostadal (15th minute)

Other matches:

Austria vs. France

Fri., 10 January 2025, 16:00, Tüskecsarnok

Hungary vs. Austria

Sat., 11 January 2025, 19:30, Tüskecsarnok

Already played:

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

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