What a World Cham­pi­onship start: Austria beat Norway 4:0

Austria began their World Championship opener against Norway at the Shenzhen Universiade Center in front of 2.800 fans, with Selma Luggin starting in goal. 

Right from the opening minutes, Head Coach Alexander Bröms’ team repeatedly established themselves well in the attacking zone and produced some good offensive moments. 

In the first power play after almost five minutes, the opening goal was in the air, with Norway goalkeeper Linnea Holterud Olsson’s net virtually besieged by Austria’s two five-player units. Following a pass from Annika Fazokas, Tamara Grascher fired home a one-timer to make it 1:0 (8'). With the 1:0 lead behind them, the Austrians continued to dominate offensively, although a second power play went unused. 

Austria increased the pressure again towards the end of the first period: first, Katharina Killius was denied one-on-one with the goalkeeper, then it was 2:0 with 42 seconds remaining before the siren. Tamara Grascher lifted the puck into the top-left corner from close range following a pass from Leonie Kutzer (20'). The shot count of 15:4 after 20 minutes underlined the clear superiority of the ÖEHV side.

Norway came out strongly at the start of the second period and had three major chances – including one effort off the post – to pull one back. Selma Luggin had considerably more to do now but kept a clean sheet. The Norwegians also brought a more physical edge to the game, with Marja Linzbichler having to go back to the dressing room for checks after a borderline hit, though she returned to the ice later.

Anna Meixner seals the win

Against the run of play in the second period, Austria extended their lead to 3:0. Captain Anna Meixner completed a superb solo effort by beating Norway goalkeeper Linnea Holterud Olsson with a fine backhand finish (32'). Austria then successfully killed off a penalty. Just under three minutes before the second intermission, Silje Gundersen found herself alone in front of Selma Luggin, but Austria’s number one made a strong save to prevent Norway’s first goal. 

Shortly before the end of the middle period, Red-White-Red had a power-play opportunity and once again it was Anna Meixner who made it 4:0 with an irresistible finish from a rebound (40'). Despite Norway’s superiority in the second period, in which they had 19:10 shots on goal, Austria were more efficient in front of goal and went into the dressing room with a 4:0 lead.

In the opening minutes of the final period, the Austrians were very disciplined defensively and managed the scoreline. As the period went on, Meixner and Co. also created chances again offensively and increased the pressure on the Norwegian net. Marja Linzbichler had the 5:0 on her stick, but her backhand deke went narrowly wide. In the end, Austria recorded a clear 4:0 victory and the first three World Championship points were safely secured. Two-goal scorer Tamara Grascher was named Austria’s player of the game.

Two-goal scorer and Austria’s best playerTamara Grascher after the game: "This is a huge arena we’re playing in. We have a young team, but we came together well. We were a little nervous, but we went into the game with a lot of effort, put the pressure on straight away and were able to win it in the end. At times, we became a little nervous again. We fought until the end, won the important one-on-one battles and played good passes. It was a good game from us. Now it’s about recovering well and preparing properly, addressing what we can improve and then we’ll get started against Denmark!"

Denmark await early on Monday

Austria’s next World Championship outing follows as early as Monday, when they face Denmark at 07:00. Denmark opened their campaign with a clear 6:1 victory over the Netherlands. 

In Thursday’s friendly, the team coached by Swedish Head Coach Björn Edlund recorded a narrow 3:2 overtime victory over the ÖEHV side. Alexander Bröms’ team now have the opportunity for revenge. 

The games against Denmark and the Netherlands will be broadcast live on LIVE.eishockey.at. ORF SPORT + will show the final games against China and Slovakia live.

2023 IIHF Ice Hockey Women's World Championship Division IA

20 August 2023 – 26 August 2023, Shenzhen (CHN)

Austria vs. Norway 4:0 (2:0,2:0,0:0)
Sun, 20 August 2023, 10:30 (16:30 local time), Shenzhen
Austria scorers: Tamara Grascher (8'/PP1, 20'), Anna Meixner (32', 40'/PP1)

Remaining schedule:

Dates and times refer to our home time zone, with the local time shown in brackets.

Denmark vs. Austria
Mon, 21 August 2023, 07:00 (13:00 local time)
Live on LIVE.eishockey.at

Netherlands vs. Austria
Wed, 23 August 2023, 10:30 (16:30 local time)
Live on LIVE.eishockey.at

Austria vs. China
Thu, 24 August 2023, 14:00 (20:00 local time)
Live on ORF SPORT +

Slovakia vs. Austria
Sat, 26 August 2023, 07:00 (13:00 local time)
Live on ORF SPORT +

Current standings