U18 Women's World Championship: Austria suffer bitter 2:3 overtime defeat to Poland in final game

The chance of promotion had already gone for both teams ahead of the final game between Austria and hosts Poland at the 2026 IIHF Women's U18 World Championship Division IB. China beat Spain 8:0 to clinch 1st place. That meant both teams were still playing for silver, which hosts Poland secured thanks to a 3:2 overtime victory.

11 January 20262 min read

Both teams played openly, competed intensely in the battles and were determined to end the World Championship on a positive note. Austria created more chances, but Poland scored the goals in the first period and led 2:0 after 20 minutes. The open end-to-end action continued in the middle period. Johanna Sintschnig finally got her team on the scoreboard in the 31st minute. And deservedly so. However, they were unable to convert a power play late in the middle period to level the scores.

That goal came on the next power play. In the 56th minute, Emma Lintner sent her team into overtime, but Poland came out on top there. Austria therefore finish the World Championship in 3rd place, four points behind China and two behind Poland.

Head Coach Arto Sieppi: "You are always disappointed after a defeat. We came here to win the title and we did not achieve that goal. Nevertheless, I am very proud of the team, especially of how they performed today and fought back from 0:2 down. We have taken a step forward. International ice hockey has grown. All the teams here performed well, and I am confident that if our players continue to work hard, we will achieve our goals in the future."

2026 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women's World Championship Division IB

05 January 2026 - 11 January 2026, Katowice (POL)
Participants: Austria, Poland, Spain, China, Australia, Great Britain
Event website

Austria vs. Poland 2:3 after overtime (0:2, 1:0, 1:0, 1:0)
Sun, 11 January 2026, 20:00, Katowice
Austria scorers: Johanna Sintschnig (31), Emma Lintner (56/PP)
Poland scorers: Karolina Gawandtka (13), Malgorzata Zakrzewska (18), Emilia Stankiewicz (64)
Game Summary

Already played
Great Britain vs. Austria 0:4 (0:0, 0:2, 0:2)
Mon, 05 January 2026, 13:00, Katowice
Austria scorers: Florentina Rumpl (21, 45), Emma Lintner (32/PP, 59)
Game Summary

Austria vs. China 2:4 (0:1, 2:1, 0:2)
Tue, 06 January 2026, 13:00, Katowice
Austria goalscorers: Vanessa Picka (38), Florentina Rumpl (39)
China goalscorers: Yufei Xin (14), Keyu Chen (26), Mi Dai (42), Yifan Wang (44)
Game Summary

Austria vs. Australia 11:0 (6:0, 1:0, 4:0)
Thu, 08 January 2026, 13:00, Katowice
Austria goalscorers: Johanna Sintschnig (2, 57), Hanna Pap (2), Vanessa Picka (9, 33), Emma Lintner (12, 51, 54), Florentina Rumpl (14), Amelie Suppan (19), Leandra Pirker (52)
Game Summary

Spain vs. Austria 0:8 (0:2, 0:1, 0:5)
Sat, 10 January 2026, 20:00, Katowice
Austria goalscorers: Vanessa Picka (7), Emma Lintner (17, 54, 59), Britta Bachler (24), Florentina Rumpl (54, 55/PP), Emma Kleinlercher (58/PP)
Game Summary

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