Women's World Cup: DEB-Selection lost in extra time in the game for fifth place

The starting six remained unchanged compared to the game against the Czech Republic - Sandra Abstreiter started in goal - Daria Gleißner, Ronja Hark, Nicola Eisenschmid, Emily Nix and Laura Kluge completed the German team. The other series compositions also remained unchanged.

In the first third, the Swiss had a slight advantage in terms of chances, but Sandra Abstreiter and her defense kept the game scoreless until the 18th minute. Then the German defense was powerless when Alina Müller deflected a shot from Lara Christen right in front of the German goalkeeper and put the puck into the net.

The DEBThe selection started the second period very well – increased the pressure on the Swiss goal, with success! Luisa Welcke completed a strong pass from her sister Lilli in the 31st minute to equalize. Two minutes later, the Swiss, who only had two scoring opportunities in the entire period, scored 2:1 through Lara Stadler. Emily Nix had the right answer, equalizing again in the 39th minute with a strong individual performance. In the final period, the minutes ticked away and both Goalies - on the German side Sandra Abstreiter and on the Swiss side, due to an injury to Andrea Braendli, now Saskia Maurer - kept their goals clean. The game was ultimately decided in extra time, where Laura Kluge almost shot the German team to victory, but Lara Christen prevented the goal at the last moment. The overtime drama was decided on the other side in the 65th minute, with Alina Müller's second goal of the day in favor of the Swiss.

After a strong tournament it ends DEB-Selection won the World Cup in sixth place, secured four wins from four games in the preliminary round for the first time ever and only narrowly lost in the quarter-finals against the Czech Republic and in the game for fifth place against Switzerland.

 

DEB-Vice President Andreas Niederberger: “We congratulate the women’s national team on an overall strong World Cup. We were all rooting for national coach Jeff MacLeod's team and our national players. We have seen what is possible with team unity and great will. We welcome the positive impression all the more because we made some changes to the squad before the World Cup. The result at the World Cup is an incentive to continue working on ourselves in order to catch up with the top nations in Group A. A big thank you goes to the entire team staff, who, in our opinion, supported our women’s World Cup journey optimally.”

DEB-Sports director Christian Künast: “Even if the initial disappointment is deep: We delivered a great team performance throughout the tournament. From the staff to the coaching team to our players, it was always noticeable how we have grown together as a unit and what we can achieve if we believe in ourselves and work on ourselves. We have shown that we can keep up with the top nations if we stand together and are there for each other. There are certainly many people at home who were inspired by women's ice hockey during the World Cup and who will now hopefully stick with it and continue to accompany and support our journey.”

Women's national coach Jeff MacLeod: “We gave everything for 60 minutes in every game and sometimes you just need luck or the right moment to win the game. We are proud of the team and with a little distance from today's game, we will also look at what we have achieved with a positive eye. It's just difficult at this moment, the team is disappointed because we were there and there - even today. This is all motivation for the next big tournament and we will continue to work to improve.”

Captain Daria Gleißner: “We struggled a bit in the first third, but from the second third onwards we put everything we had into every shift. The fact that it ended like this in overtime is bitter. Nevertheless, it was the right step that we took for German women's ice hockey at the World Cup tournament. We haven't been able to win all of the preliminary round games yet. In that respect, it was certainly important for the future.”

Striker Emily Nix: “It's a little difficult to put into words right now because the disappointment is so great. We fought until the end again today and were in the game after the first third at the latest. When we look back at the tournament, we can certainly be proud of our performance and how we presented ourselves. I think we showed everyone that we are there and that we are a force to be reckoned with. And we will build on that again.”

 

World Cup schedule for the German women’s national team:

04.04.2024/15/00 | 21:00 p.m. (German time XNUMX:XNUMX p.m.) | Denmark - Germany 1:5 (0:1, 0:1, 1:3)

06.04.2024/15/00 | 21:00 p.m. (German time XNUMX:XNUMX p.m.) | Japan – Germany 1:4 (0:0, 0:2, 1:2)

April 08.04.2024, 11 | 00:17 (German time 00:XNUMX p.m.) | Germany – Sweden 1:0 (0:0, 0:0, 1:0)

April 09.04.2024, 11 | 00:17 (German time 00:XNUMX p.m.) | Germany – China 3:0 (2:0, 0:0, 1:0)

December 11.04.2024, 13 | 30:19 p.m. (German time 30:XNUMX p.m.) | Czech Republic - Germany 1:0 (0:0, 0:0, 1:0)

April 13.04.2024, 11 | 00:17 (German time 00:XNUMX p.m.) | Switzerland - Germany 3:2 nV (1:0, 1:2, 0:0, 1:0)