The German U18 women's national team loses its last game at this year's 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women's World Championship Div. IA in Radenthein/AUT with 1:5 (1:2/0:0/0:3) against Slovakia and thus missed direct promotion back to the top division.
It was the expected thriller between the two strongest teams in the tournament. Slovakia got off to a better start and forced the German defense and Sofie Disl in the German goal to perform at their best in the first change. But then the German players turned up the heat and started attacking the opponent's goal, but they were unable to create a significant scoring opportunity at this point. Almost four minutes had been played when the German team had to play outnumbered for the first time. The Slovakians let the disc run through their own ranks and repeatedly had good chances from the blue line through the defenders. But the German players blocked almost all shots, and Disl only had to intervene once. There were still almost 40 seconds left to survive when the team was outnumbered and another German penalty was added. And the Slovakians used the following 5:3 majority to take a 0:1 lead. And even after that, the Slovakians remained dangerous in the majority. Michaele Hajnikova deflected a shot from Diana Vargova just in front of Disl to make it 0-2 for Slovakia. Women's U18 national coach Franziska Busch took a break to gather the team again. It wasn't until the eighth minute of the game that the German team had their first chances to score. A little later she had DEB-Selection then the first majority, the formation quickly stood. But the Slovaks defended aggressively and hardly gave Franziska Busch's protégés any space to play passes or shoot. This time it was the Slovakians who received another penalty and had to play with only three players. And this time the German players took advantage of their numerical advantage and made it 1-2 at the end of the first Slovakian penalty. Franziska Klinger scored through the legs of Nikola Zimkova. The tempo remained high even after the Slovakian penalties. Annabella Sterzik hit the post six minutes before the break. After falling behind early on, the German team had now gotten into the game and repeatedly tried to put the Slovakian defense under pressure. But despite further chances, the equalizer would not fall until the break. Right at the beginning of the middle third, the German team had to accept another penalty. But this time it survived the penalty without conceding a goal and immediately launched its next attack. An open exchange of blows developed in which the Slovakians had the better chances to date. Alina Leveringhaus had the best opportunity after a good 29 minutes. Zimkova saved the first shot, Thea-Marleen Bartell missed the follow-up shot by centimeters. Then Xenia Merkle shot from the blue line, but her shot went just wide of the goal. Zimkova just managed to catch a shot from Jule Schiefer with her shoulder. The German team invested more in the game, but the hoped-for equalizer simply didn't come. When a Slovakian woman had to take a seat in the penalty box in the 36th minute, the German team had the chance to equalize with the advantage. Lilli Welcke and Franziska Klinger missed the best opportunities one after the other. Germany now had significantly better chances, but up until then they had not been rewarded for their efforts. When one German player was on the ice too much a minute before the second break, the chances of equalizing in the second third were dashed.
So the final third had to bring the decision. But there was still one minute of penalty time left in the second third. And the German team defended well, blocked shots from the blue line and repeatedly forced the Slovaks to rebuild. Then Thea-Marleen Bartell made her way to the opponent's goal with the disc, but her backhand shot got stuck under Zimkova's pad. An error in substitution by the German team led to the Slovaks going it alone in the 46th minute and Nikola Nemcekova extending the Slovakian lead to 1:3. The German team tried again and again to score, but either an opponent or Zimkova stood in the way. On the other hand, Disl repeatedly had to defuse dangerous counterattacks. But despite a final offensive from the German team, nothing worthwhile came out of it. Six minutes before the end, Haluskova scored for Slovakia to make it 1:4. The DEB-Selection now had to throw everything forward and took the goalkeeper off the ice three minutes before the end. But even with one more player on the ice, the German team was no longer able to score a goal. There were chances, but the necessary luck on the targets was missing. Two minutes before the end there was another German power play, but even with two more players they couldn't score. Livia Kubekova scored with an empty net thirteen seconds before the end to make the final score 1:5 for Slovakia.
Franziska Busch, women’s U18 national coach: “Unfortunately it wasn’t enough to win today against a physically strong Slovakian team. After a nervous start, we found our way into the game better and were able to create chances, but couldn't take advantage of them. The team never gave up and invested everything until the end. Unfortunately, with four wins from five games, we are only left with the thankless second place. I would like to thank the entire staff team for the always good cooperation.”
Germany: Disl (Pfeifer) – Klinger (C), Hark; Leveringhaus, Kubiczek, Christof – Raschke (A), Merkle; Luisa Welcke, Lilli Welcke, Schiefer – Strompf, Cyrulies; Fiedler, Gruchot (A), Miller – Bartell, Sterzik, Heinz
Goals: 0:1 Michaela Hajnikova (5:19/PP2); 0:2 Diana Vargova (6:38/PP1); 1:2 Franziska Klinger (11:42/PP1); 1:3 Nikola Necekova (45:09); 1:4 Livia Kubelova (59:47/E)
Penalty minutes: Germany 8 – Slovakia 8
You can find detailed statistics here:
https://www.iihf.com/en/events/2019/ww18ia/gamecenter/playbyplay/6510/13-ger-vs-svk