Two wins at Four Nations Tour­na­ment: women’s national team completes camp in Slovakia

Austria’s senior women’s national team finished second at the Four Nations Tournament in Bardejov on Saturday. A hard-fought defeat to Slovakia was followed by a 2–0 win over the Netherlands and a 3–1 victory against Italy. KSV Highlanders forward Lena Dauböck was Austria’s leading scorer at the tournament with two goals and two assists.

Head Coach Alexander Bröms was unable to attend the camp due to a family bereavement, with Assistant Coaches Sarah Hodges and Mario Bellina taking charge of the team in his absence. Hodges said: ‘The tournament was an important step in selecting our squad and preparing for the World Championship. It was exciting to see several players take on new roles and rise to the challenge. The players represented Austria with pride and earned their victories.’

Opening defeat to Slovakia

After two training sessions on both Tuesday and Wednesday, Austria opened the tournament against the hosts on Thursday. Slovakia took the lead twice, but the ÖEHV team equalised on both occasions through Emma Hofbauer (Providence College, USA) and Emma Lintner (EVZ Women’s Team, Switzerland).

Slovakia created more chances as the game progressed, however, and went on to win 5–2. As planned, Anja Adamitsch (KSV Highlanders) was replaced by Davina Falmbigl (Lakers Kärnten) midway through the game. Sarah Hodges said: ‘The start was a little difficult, but from the tenth minute onwards I was pleased with our effort. Both goaltenders did a great job and kept us in the game.’

Convincing win on Friday

Austria celebrated a 2–0 victory over the Netherlands on the second day of the tournament. Leonie Kutzer (EVZ Women’s Team, Switzerland) and Selina Gentilini (VSV Lady Hawks) scored for the ÖEHV team. This time, Anja Adamitsch played the entire game and stopped all 19 opposition shots.

Sarah Hodges said: ‘We produced a solid team performance today. We worked hard and controlled the game, and it was good to see Anja [Adamitsch] make important saves when we needed her. Our team played very well in front of both nets, and it was great to see how many chances we created by driving to their goal.’

Another victory against Italy

On the final day, Austria faced an Italian side that reached the quarter-finals at the 2026 Olympic Games and had opened the tournament with a 3–1 win over the Netherlands. This time, it was the ÖEHV women who celebrated that same result. Lena Dauböck scored twice, while Tamara Grascher (Graz99ers Huskies) also found the net. Davina Falmbigl delivered a strong performance in goal with a save percentage of 94.12.

Sarah Hodges said: ‘We finished with a strong game against Italy. We worked hard and kept things simple. We were efficient in front of their net and did a good job of preventing rebound opportunities in front of our own.’

Valuable dialogue on equal terms

The camp in Bardejov was not only important from a sporting perspective. Following public criticism from several national-team players, staff and players held a number of in-depth discussions in Slovakia during the week. These constructive conversations allowed them to explore the best possible solutions together.

The association intends to continue this solution-focused dialogue on equal terms. At the same time, it is working intensively on a detailed and fact-based response to all of the players’ demands. This will provide the foundation for direct dialogue with every player.

The association’s clear objective is to put practical, workable solutions on the table and to travel to the top-division World Championship in Denmark from 6–16 November with the strongest possible team, while also creating a sustainable foundation for the future of women’s ice hockey in Austria.