The women's national team won its second game at the 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey Women's World Championship. The team of women's national coach Christian Künast defeated the Japanese selection 3:2 (0:1, 0:0, 2:2) in a dramatic game on Saturday evening.
The German team started the encounter against the Japanese with their first offensive accents. Daria Gleißner had one of the best scoring opportunities when her shot was deflected in front of the Japanese goal in the seventh minute, but the puck landed next to the goal. Four minutes later, the German team finally celebrated: Anna Fiegert shot with the advantage from the blue line and placed the ball in the upper left corner of the goal - the lead for them DEB-Selection. This was followed by a period of pressure from the Japanese. Rui Ukita had the best opportunity in the 18th minute, but Jenny Harß was there in this situation.
In the second half of the game there was a lot of pressure from the Japanese team, who took control of the game and pushed the German team into their own third. In the 24th minute, Haruna Yoneyama appeared free in front of Jenny Harß, who, however, parried with her saver. As a result, the German goalkeeper and her defensive front men became more and more the focus. But the German lead lasted until the 40th minute. The DEB-Selection started the final period with its own power play - Laura Kluge deflected a shot from Julia Zorn, but the puck landed on the goalkeeper's pad. Celina Haider did better in the 47th minute, giving the team a 2-0 lead with her World Cup debut goal. But the Japanese recovered quickly and equalized within eleven seconds through Chiho Osawa and Hanae Kubo. Then an open exchange of blows followed, which was decided in the 57th minute by Marie Delarbre's game-winning goal.
The German women's national team has no games tomorrow, Sunday, and will play their next game at the 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey Women's World Championship on Monday. The opponent is the French selection from 17.00 p.m.
Christian Künast, women’s national coach: “We once again showed a very good fighting performance over 60 minutes. Today we weren't as good in terms of play as we were in the opening game, but that was due to the opponent. The Japanese kept us in trouble with their powerful game. In the end it was a character victory for our team!”
You can find all the statistics for the game HERE.