The German U18 women's national team won their first game at the 4-nation tournament in St. Gallen (Switzerland) 2:3 (0:0, 0:0, 2:2, 0:0, 0:1) after a penalty shootout lost to Sweden.
The German team needed a change to get back into the game. Then Nina Christof already had the lead in the second minute of the game, which Tindra Holm was just able to prevent in the Swedes' box. Alina Fiedler had passed across the far post, where Christof could not lift the disc over Holm's pads with his backhand. As a result, the Swedes gained more of the game in the German third, but Sofie Disl rarely had to intervene in the German goal. The pressure on the German goal and the Swedish chances increased as the game progressed. During this period of pressure from the Swedes, a German penalty occurred in the twelfth minute. But the German team defended well and equalized the shortfall until a Swedish player had to take part in the penalty box a minute before the shortfall expired. The four-on-four game was evenly played by both teams. After that, the German team had a hard time getting into the formation on the power play. So the Swedish penalty ran unused from the clock. In the 16th minute of the game, Katarina Jobst-Smith started from her own blue line, took the target, left the Swedish defender standing and moved over to the outside of the opponent's goal. But at the crucial moment she couldn't get enough pressure on the racket to accommodate the disc in the Swedish housing. The German team now played better and had a great chance through Jule Schiefer forty-five seconds before the end. Ronja Hark, standing behind the Swedish goal, passed the completely unmarked Jule Schiefer, whose target only hit the Swedish goalkeeper's pad. Alina Leveringhaus and Thea Bartell created an identical situation for thirty seconds. But here too, Bartell only hit the opposing goalkeeper. With clearly more high-quality chances on their side, the German team went into the break with a score of 0-0.
The second third began with a period of pressure from the Swedes, who were able to establish themselves in the German third for several changes. But the German defense did a good defensive job and Sofie Disl saved everything that came her way. A Swedish penalty in the 25th minute of the game came at exactly the right time. Just thirty seconds later, a second penalty against Sweden followed, giving the German team a double advantage. At the beginning of the majority, Heidi Strompf shot a slap shot towards the goal, but it was deflected and narrowly missed the goal. But the Swedes were able to free themselves again and again and so the penalty ran down without any further significant chances. In the 30th minute it was Heidi Strompf who shot from the blue line, but there was no one in front of the goal who could use the follow-up shot. In the 33rd minute, the German team changed the goalkeeper: Lilly Uhrmann came on for Disl in her first minutes in a U18 international match. And she also withstood the pressure of the Swedish attacks. Both teams continued to gain shares of the game until the second break, with more chances on the Swedish side. A misdirected German pass hit the stick of a Swedish striker in the slot of the German third in the 38th minute, but Uhrmann parried the dangerous situation without any problems. A minute later, another Swede was standing in front of the German goal ready to take a shot, but Uhrmann was quick enough on the other side and closed the short corner. Now it was the Swedes who went into the break shortly before the end with unused top-class opportunities.
The final third was less than a minute old when the German team made its first attack on the Swedish goal. But she couldn't create a significant chance. On the other hand, Lilly Uhrmann had to intervene several times in the first two minutes of the last section. But in the 45th minute she was powerless when Thea Johansson sank the puck into the far corner after a pass from outside to make it 1-0 for Sweden. The German team tried to equalize immediately after the restart, but a German penalty in the 48th minute halted the comeback. Nina Christof had just received the disc in the neutral zone from her defender and started a solo run. She ran around a teammate who was running sideways and blocked a Swede, went around another opponent and put the puck right under the crossbar of the Swedish goal to equalize 1-1. Seven and a half minutes before the end, the German team had another chance to increase their power play. And Germany took advantage of it in the person of Franziska Klinger. She placed a shot from the blue line right in the corner of the cross for a 2-1 lead Fanhand side. In the following minutes, the German team did a good job of keeping the Swedes out of their own third. And whenever a Swedish attack got through, the German backline around Lilly Uhrmann was there. Two minutes before the end, the German team received another penalty, the Swedish coach took his timeout and his goalkeeper off the ice in favor of another skater. It promised to be a hot final phase. But the German players blocked shot after shot and always managed to break free. Thirty-five seconds before the end another penalty against the German team. Now Tommy Kettner took his time out to get his players ready for the final seconds. Just seconds later, Nina Christof missed the deserted Swedish goal by a few centimeters. One attack later, the Swedes equalized through Malou Berggren, who converted a rebound with a volley to make it 2-2.
So it went into a five-minute extra time, which was played in a three vs. three format. The German players played very disciplined, blocked all shots from the blue line and had reliable support in Lilly Uhrmann. Even after Germany was outnumbered, Sweden pressed for the winning goal to end the game before the penalty shootout. But the German team held on and kept the score until the end of overtime.
A penalty shootout followed, in which Sweden opened, Lilly Uhrmann stayed cool and parried the first attempt. Now it was Nina's turn to present Christof. She ran through the middle, moved to the stickhand side and narrowly missed Holm's long leg. Since Lilly Uhrmann also saved the second Swedish penalty, Katarina Jobst-Smith now had the opportunity to present. She tried the same trick over the other side but also failed. The third Swedish shooter put her attempt over the German goal. Ronja Hark was the last to run, but she also shot past the goal. Now, in principle, the shooting continued one-on-one. Franziska Klinger missed the first German attempt. On the other side, Lilly Uhrmann went long and parried against the Swedish shooter. Alina Leveringhaus tried through the legs next, but narrowly failed. Since Lilly Uhrmann also saved the next Swedish shot, the game continued happily. Jule Schiefer shot the Swedish goalkeeper in her attempt Fanghand. The following Swedish shooter Hanna Thuvik gave Lilly Uhrmann no chance and scored a 3-2 win for Sweden after a penalty shootout.
Franziska Busch, U18 women’s assistant coach: “Of course we had to find our way into the game today, after all it was the first game with a newly formed team. The girls implemented the instructions well and showed a fighting performance and high commitment. The fact that in the end there were only a few seconds missing from the surprise against the silver medalist from the last World Cup is of course annoying. But the team can be proud of their performance and build on it in the next games.”
Germany: Disl (uhrmann) – Raschke (A), Klinger (C); Hark, Slate, Jobst-Smith – Strompf, König/Badura; Bartell, Christof, Leveringhaus – Heinz, Merkle; Fiedler, Gruchot (A), Miller – Cyrulies, Sterzik, Liang
Gates: 0:1 Thea Johansson (44:42 / Maja Grundström, Jenny Antonsson), 1:1 Nina Christof (49:17 / Amelie Cyrulies), 2:1 Franziska Klinger (53:24 - PP1), 2:2 Hanna Thuvik ( 59:49 – PP2 / Josefin Bouveng), 2:3 Hanna Thuvik (penalty)
Penalty minutes: Germany 8 – Sweden 10
You can find detailed statistics HERE.