DEB-Women meet Finland in the bronze game / Zorn: “We showed character and didn’t let ourselves down”
The women's national team clearly lost to the USA in the semi-finals of the 2017 IIHF Women's Ice Hockey World Championship in Plymouth (USA) with 11:0 (2:0/5:0/4:0) and will play against Finland today at 21.30 p.m. German time for the bronze medal.
With a sensational performance so far, the German women's national ice hockey team made it into a World Cup semi-final for the first time in history at the World Cup in Plymouth. In the preliminary round, Benjamin Hinterstocker's team defeated Sweden 3-1 and the Czech Republic 2-1, only lost to Switzerland 2-4 and advanced to the quarter-finals early. There the Germans also defeated last year's bronze medal winners Russia 2-1 and thus qualified for the semi-finals.
Now the young German team had to – or was allowed to – take on the seven-time world champion, defending champion and host USA. For a long time it was unclear whether the Americans would even compete in this World Cup. The players went on strike two weeks before the start and demanded more equality and adequate financial compensation from the American association. It was only two days before the first game that both parties finally reached an agreement and nothing stood in the way of the world champion appearing in his own country.
The USA is the only team that has not dropped a point in the tournament so far. The Americans beat arch-rivals Canada 2-0 in the preliminary round, Russia was defeated 7-0 and only against Finland did the US selection have a little more trouble than expected, losing 5-3. As first in Group A, the USA women had already qualified for the semi-finals and thus had an extra day off.
The German record against the North Americans speaks volumes: both teams have met ten times since 1994 and there have been ten defeats for them DEBselection (with 5:102 goals). The performance of the German women at the 2006 Olympic Games in Turin will remain unforgettable, when the then 19-year-old goalkeeper Jennifer Harß made her Olympic debut and was celebrated with a standing ovation by the entire stadium. This 0:5 result from the German perspective was also the best result to date against the team from the USA.
The last meeting was nine years ago, when there was an 1-8 defeat in Harbin (China). Subsequently, the tournament format at the Women's World Cup was changed and they no longer met each other. “It’s a huge success for our team and a great honor to be here in the semi-finals,” he said DEB Team manager Peter Gemsjäger.
As expected, the Americans started with enormous pressure and it only took 66 seconds for the World Cup hosts, playing all in blue, to take the lead through Hilary Knight. A few seconds later, US goalkeeper Nicole Hensley had to deal with a shot from DEB-Captain Julia Zorn intervene for the first time. After eight minutes, the post saved the German team from falling behind. Shortly afterwards it was 0-2 from a German perspective. A shot from Kelli Stack was deflected twice and Jennifer Harß was powerless. The German goalkeeper was still at the center of the action, but she and the people in front of her also survived a two-minute US power play unscathed. Nina Kamenik had the best opportunity to score, who was set up by Andrea Lanzl but was unable to put the disc in the opponent's box (15th minute). With this 0:2 the sides were changed for the first time.
The second section then began with another suspension against a German player. Shortly before the end of this penalty time, Kendall Coyne increased the score to 0:3 for the reigning world champions (23rd minute). Then the US Girls got really serious and increased the score to 0:7 within four minutes. Women's national coach Benjamin Hinterstocker then changed the goalkeeper and brought in Ivonne Schröder for Jennifer Harß. She was able to prove her skills several times and... DEBThe selection found its way back into the game and got back into the game. With a lot of running, it managed to avoid any more goals being scored against it until the end of the middle period. Shortly before the half-time whistle, Kerstin Spielberger narrowly missed the first German goal during one of the few breaks.
Even in the final section, there was little change in the USA's dominance, and Amanda Pelkey (45th), Monique Lamoureux (54th) and Haley Skarupa (55th) made it into double figures. Alex Carpenter scored the final goal 13 seconds before the final whistle.
Women's national coach Benjamin Hinterstocker: “We played very intensively and with concentration for over 60 minutes. Our team had to compete against one of the world's best teams in the fifth game of the tournament today. The entire focus is now on tomorrow’s game against Finland for third place.”
Stefan Schaidnagel, national coach for science and training: “The USA were the tough opponents we expected. We played against the reigning world champion and title contender, who showed us what potential there is in women's ice hockey. For us, the focus is to correctly classify the very positive result of this World Cup and to make sensible use of the moment of reaching a semi-final at a World Cup for the first time. The team has rewarded itself, achieved this success and together we will try to set the right course for a sustainable and successful future. The fact that we are playing for a medal against Finland tomorrow confirms the path we have chosen and will continue on.”
Julia Zorn, team captain: “The Americans play in a different league. The result may seem high, but we showed character today and never let ourselves down. Overall, we played a great tournament, but we won't rest on our laurels. Tomorrow against Finland we will try to show our best hockey.”
Ivonne Schröder: “It was an incredibly difficult game and the Americans were really very good. Our front men helped us goalkeepers a lot and blocked over thirty shots. Now it’s time to regenerate and try to realize our big dream tomorrow.”
Sophie Scratch: “We are quite proud that we tried not just to take a backseat against the world champions, but also to run with them and attack.”
The statistics for the game can be found here: http://www.worldwomen2017.com