The German women's national team won their third game in Vierumäki with 2:1 (1:0/0:0/0:0/0:0/1:0) after a penalty shootout against Switzerland.
Switzerland put pressure on right from the start and put the German defense under pressure. But the German defense and Jennifer Harß in goal withstood the attacks. An open game developed in which the Swiss had more chances. She had the first clear chances to score DEB-Selection only in the middle of the third: Kerstin Spielberger and Janine Alder tested in the Swiss goal. After eleven minutes of play, the first power play opportunity for the German team. Carina Strobel tried a shot from the blue line, but her attempt bounced off the goalkeeper's pad. Despite a constant presence in the opponent's third, the German team was unable to create a compelling scoring opportunity. It also showed afterwards DEB-Selection had a lot of will to get in front of the opponent's goal, but the Swiss blocked almost all shots. Four minutes before the break, Marie Delarbre ran towards goal alone, but her shot was too inaccurate. On the other hand, Jennifer Harß thwarted a shot from Alina Müller's slot. There was just under a minute left to play in the first third when Laura Kluge scored to give Germany a 1-0 lead. Naemi Bär had shot from the blue line, the disc jumped onto Kluge's racket, who had no problems inserting it. The goal was followed by a German majority, but this could no longer be used until the break and so the German team went into the dressing room for the first time with a narrow lead.
It took a few moments in the second period for the German team to find their power play formation. Shortly before the end of the penalty, Anna Fiegert's slap shot hit the post. Both teams tried to develop offensive actions in the following minutes, but none of them managed to score. A tricky situation then arose in the 28th minute when Switzerland had too much space in front of the German goal. Jennifer Harß kept an overview and saved twice against opponents who were ready to score. When a Swiss player had to sit in the penalty box in the 30th minute, the German team found its way into its formation well. But again her opponents positioned themselves well in the shooting lanes and left little room for German shot attempts. Harß parried a great chance for Switzerland six minutes before the second break when Alina Müller left the German defense standing and ran alone towards the German goal. When she tried to stop Müller in the next attack, the DEB-Select the first penalty of the evening. But the German outnumbered formation played its job consistently, blocked shots and took the opponents out of the game in front of the goal, so that the outnumbered team had no consequences. The Swiss kept up the pressure even after the German penalty expired, but they were unable to create any significant chances. From a German perspective, the score remained 1-0 at halftime.
The German team came out of the locker room well, and Kerstin Spielberger was able to get the first shot on the Swiss goal in the first minute. Jennifer Harß only got anything to do two minutes after the restart, but had no problems with Noemi Rhyner's shot. A little later, Laura Kluge tried a pawn trick, but she was unable to put the disc decisively around the opposing goalkeeper. Switzerland took a break quite early. But even after that, the German team continued to dominate the game. As a result, two great German opportunities remained unused. First Andrea Lanzl loaded Janine Alder, but didn't manage to put the puck in the goal. Then Marie Delarbre's slap shot hit the crossbar. In direct response, Switzerland turned up the heat and had several chances to equalize just under twelve minutes before the end. But Harß kept track of things and the German team was able to free themselves again. Even after that, it remained a powerful game for both sides. Both teams tried to keep the pace up. Switzerland pushed for the equalizer, the German team ran relief attacks and tried to extend their lead. One of the Swiss attacks was successful five minutes before the end. Isabel Waidacher ran undeterred through the German slot, took an unchallenged slap shot and hit the inside post, from where the puck jumped into the German goal. It promised to be an exciting final phase. When a German player had to go to the penalty box, German hopes of scoring a goal in regular time faded. But Switzerland was also able to play down the number without any further chances to score and so the game went into five minutes of extra time.
At 3 – 3 there was now a lot of space on the ice. Germany started with Kerstin Spielberger, Laura Kluge and Anna Fiegert. Both teams continued at a high pace in extra time, with the German team having the more compelling chances. Emily Nix had the victory on her hands a minute and a half before the end of overtime, but she took too much time in triggering the shot and was prevented from shooting at the last moment. So overtime didn't bring a decision and it went to a penalty shootout.
Switzerland started, but Jennifer Harß remained the winner in the duel with Phoebe Staenz. Anna Fiegert was the first to compete for Germany. But she pulled her attempt wide of the goal. But Harß also kept Rahel Enzler's second penalty and her team in the game. Kerstin Spielberger tried it next and scored through Alder's legs. Alina Müller was the next shooter for Switzerland, but she shot wide. Andrea Lanzl was the third German shooter to run from the outside, but was unable to get the puck past Alder. Dominique Ruegg tried next for the Swiss, but here too Harß had the upper hand. But Marie Delarbre was also unable to successfully complete the fourth German penalty. Now Isabel Waidacher had to score for Switzerland to at least equalize. But even in this duel, Harß remained the winner and secured her team the extra point.
Benjamin Hinterstocker, women’s national coach: “Today the team used its full potential and was able to achieve its second win in three days. The given game plan was implemented optimally in the 65 minutes of playing time. In the last game tomorrow against Finland we will face another top European team.”
Germany: Harß (Albl) – Botthof, Rothemund; Amort, Delarbre, Spielberger – Gleissner, T. Eisenschmid; Lanzl (C), Kluge, Nix – Strobel, Fiegert; N. Eisenschmid, Karpf, Bartsch – Düsterhöft, Sabus; Bear, Haider, Kamenik (A)
Gates: 0:1 Laura Kluge (19:06), 1:1 Isabel Waidacher (54:46), 1:2 Kerstin Spielberger (penalty)
Penalty minutes: Germany 4 – Switzerland 6