The German women's national team can look back on a great result at the 2023 IIHF Women's Ice Hockey World Championship. A united team performance and a very special atmosphere were what made women's national coach Thomas Schädler's team stand out on their World Cup trip. Goal achieved because she carried the team all the way to the World Cup quarter-finals. They braced themselves there DEB-Women fought against defeat and stood up to the favored Americans. After the later placement games it was clear - the DEB-Selection finally placed in eighth position.
The preparation in Füssen and Barrie
It started with 17 players DEB-Selection at the end of March in a short preparation at the federal base in Füssen. Sandra Abstreiter (Providence College), Nina Jobst-Smith (University of Minnesota/Duluth), Luisa and Lilli Welcke (Maine University) as well as Svenja Voigt (St. Cloud University) and Nina Christof (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) completed the World Cup squad Canadian soil, as the DEB-Women in Barrie continued their preparation.
In two test matches, the team proved that they are a force to be reckoned with at the World Cup. It started with a narrow 0-2 defeat DEB-Selection on March 31st against Switzerland - a nation that has been placed in the top Group A at World Cups for years. This was achieved against direct group opponents Hungary DEB-Selection two days later with their first win of the season self-confidence - Sonja Weidenfelder scored the golden goal in the 1-0 win. The only downside to the preparation: Lilli Welcke was injured in the friendly against Switzerland. The examinations revealed that the 20-year-old had a lower body injury, which confirmed her exit from the World Cup even before the start. Jule Schiefer moved away for them ERC Ingolstadt into the squad.
Nine points from four World Cup games
In the first World Cup game, the German team surprised the favored Swedes. “Everything just went right today,” said double goalscorer Celina Haider after the 6-2 win. It was a perfect start that continued to boost the already good mood throughout the entire team. The following day, the German team again went into the game against the Finns as the “underdog”. In the end they lost DEB-Selection with 0:3, but stood up to the Scandinavians with a lot of passion and will.
For the next opponent – the French, who had so far had no points – it was all or nothing in the game against the German team if they still wanted to have a chance of staying in the league. Accordingly, the country's neighbor also appeared and developed into a very unpleasant opponent. Ultimately, Celina Haider and Nicola Eisenschmid laid the foundation for success with their goals. A unified team performance and another goal from Nina Jobst-Smith confirmed the second success of the preliminary round.
Despite two wins from three games, that was missing DEB-Selection another point for safe relegation. In the final preliminary round game against the Hungarians, the German team once again managed a strong opening third, in which goals from Ronja Hark and Nicola Eisenschmid ensured a 2-0 lead. The Hungarians reduced the lead to 2-1 early in the middle period, but were no longer able to threaten the German team's victory. The DEB-Selection celebrated a strong second place in Group B behind the Finns with 9 out of a possible 12 points.
The quarterfinal game against the USA and the placement game against Finland
After the quarterfinal game against the USA, the received DEBteam received a lot of praise and respect, especially from the favored opponent. The team of women's national coach Thomas Schädler lost the game against the eventual world champions 0-3, but won a lot of sympathy from the spectators for their passionate performance. Never before had a German women's national team achieved a better result at a World Cup against the Americans.
The following placement game against Finland took place DEB-Selection balanced in the first third - even managed to take the lead through Sonja Weidenfelder before the Finns equalized shortly before the third siren. From the middle section onwards, however, the German team lacked the strength to pull off a surprise against the strong Finns. Resi Wagner made up for a 1-2 deficit, but the Scandinavians then scored six more goals to ultimately win the game 8-2.
The disappointment over the result, which did not reflect the team's World Cup performance at all, was clearly visible to the German players over the next few hours. But with a little distance from the lost game, it was the joy of the great World Cup performance that prevailed among the players. “Of course the disappointment is great right now and the defeat was a bit too great, but in the end we can be very proud of our World Cup performance,” explained assistant captain Laura Kluge aptly.
On the way in the right direction
Declared after reaching the quarterfinals DEB-Sports director Christian Künast already: “This is an important step in the right direction and is very good for women’s ice hockey.” Women's national coach Thomas Schädler was also very satisfied with the German team's World Cup performance: “We can be proud of what we achieved at this World Cup. We can be more than satisfied with three preliminary round wins and the good quarter-final game against the USA,” said the 52-year-old after the lost placement game. “I draw a very positive conclusion from the World Cup and we will take the positive impressions with us into the future.” The players mentioned the solidarity and good atmosphere in the entire team as the key to success. “We had some good games at this World Cup and definitely showed that we are on the way in the right direction,” Laura Kluge concluded.