Lilli Welcke only scorer / tomorrow against the Czech Republic
Forty minutes is not enough: The German U18 women's national team lost its first game at the 2018 IIHF U18 Women's Ice Hockey World Championship 1:4 (0:2; 1:2; 0:0) against Finland. Tomorrow Germany will face the Czech Republic at 13.30:XNUMX p.m.
The DEBThe selection defended strongly in the opening minutes and allowed only a few chances on the German goal guarded by Johanna May. In the 4th minute, however, it was Elisa Holopainen who took advantage of a mess in front of the German goal and scored to give Finland a 1-0 lead. Despite their own chances through Tabea Botthof and Lilli Welcke, Finland increased their lead to 15-2 in the 0th minute. A deflected shot from Sanni Rantala somehow found its way into the German goal.
The second period had barely begun when Julia Liikala scored from the slot to make it 3-0 for her team. The game then took place mainly in the German third, but May and her teammates defended everything that came towards the German goal. In the 25th minute, the chance arose for the DEB-Choose to shorten the score. But the Finns were always able to free themselves and never really let the German girls get into their line-up. In the 35th minute the bitter 4-0 win for Finland. Anna Rasanen coldly converted a follow-up shot. Shortly before the end of the period, the German colors were finally able to celebrate: Lilli Welcke took advantage of a coordination error by the Finnish backline and reduced the score to 1:4.
In the final third, their opponents increased the pressure significantly, but the German defense was strong. A power play game of their own ten minutes before the end created several good opportunities for them DEB-Selection, but none could be used until the end and so the first game of this World Cup ended with 1:4 for the German team.
Tommy Kettner, Women's Federal Young Talent Coach: “We were only able to hold out against a strong Finnish team for 40 minutes. The team improved as the game progressed, but their finishing wasn't compelling enough. Especially when we were in the majority, we had a lot of good opportunities that we need to make better use of in the future. The team showed morale today and gave everything until the end. Now it’s important to take the performance and attitude from the last two thirds into tomorrow’s game.”
You can find detailed statistics here