The German women's national team lost their second game at the 5-nation tournament in Finland 1:4 (1:1/0:1/0:2) against Japan.
The Japanese took a 1-0 lead with their first attack. The disc was played outwards from the slot by Rui Ukita, where Haruna Yoneyama had no problems pushing the disc past Ivonne Schröder in the German goal. But in the attack that followed, Celina Haider had their first chance DEB-Selection, but her shot landed in the FanNana Fujimoto's glove in the Japanese goal. Two minutes later, Kerstin Spielberger went on a solo run to secure the first power play for the German team. Germany quickly found its formation and repeatedly brought the puck in front of the Japanese goal, but the opposing defenders gave the German strikers no chance to score. Tabea Botthof took a run-up in the eighth minute of play, had the puck played to her run, but she couldn't place her shot accurately enough. Almost eight minutes before the break, the Germans had another chance to equalize on the power play. But one after the other, Anna Fiegert, Marie Delarbre, Emily Nix and Laura Kluge missed good scoring opportunities. Exactly three minutes were left in the first period when Naemi Bär played the puck to the opposing blue line onto Kerstin Spielberger's stick, who gained momentum from the outside and put the puck in the Japanese goal to make it 1:1.
Twenty-three seconds had gone into the second period when Japan took the lead again. Kanami Seki made it 2-1 after a shot from Akane Hosoyamada. In the 25th minute of the game, Germany received a 2+10 disciplinary penalty. After being outnumbered, Japan was able to increase the score to 3-1 through Miho Shishiuchi. Both teams subsequently had opportunities, with Marie Delarbre and Kerstin Spielberger missing the clearest German chances to score. Nicola Eisenschmid took heart in the 38th minute and simply shot from outside, but Fujimoto was on the post. A few moments later the German team received another penalty. Japan came straight into the formation but the DEB-Selection defended well and had good support in Schröder, who secured the 1:3 half-time score for her team.
The Japanese also came out of the locker room better in the final third. The German team needed a change to get back into the game. In the 45th minute of the game, another German player had to take a seat in the penalty box and Japan used the majority to extend their lead. Haruna Yoneyama scored from the face-off point to make it 4-1 for Japan. Both teams then tried to build pressure on the opposing goal. Japan had more chances, but Ivonne Schröder kept her team in the game. Four minutes before the final siren, Benjamin Hinterstocker took his time out. But even after that, the German team was no longer able to make any progress. Shortly before the end, Schröder left her box in favor of a sixth field player. But even this measure no longer brought the hoped-for goal and so the game ended with a 4-1 win for Japan.
Benjamin Hinterstocker, women’s national coach: “The team put a lot of energy into the game today. The necessary goals were not scored to end the game victoriously. Tomorrow against Switzerland we have to be more disciplined in some areas.”
Germany: Schröder (Albl) – Strobel, Fiegert; N. Eisenschmid, Karpf, Kamenik (A) – T. Eisenschmid, Gleissner (A); Lanzl (C), Haider, Bartsch – Sabus, Rothemund; Nix, Kluge, Amort – Düsterhöft, Botthof; Bear, Delarbre, Spielberger
Gates: 1-0 Haruna Yoneyama (00:32); 1:1 Kerstin Spielberger (17:00 p.m.); 2:1 Kanami Seki (20:23); 3:1 Miho Shishiuchi (24:37/PP1); 4:1 Haruna Yoneyama (44:46/PP1)
Penalty minutes: Germany 16 – Japan 4