With a victory against Italy in their luggage, the U18 women's national team set off for the World Cup in Hungary this afternoon. Arrival in Budapest is planned for 1 a.m. tonight. There is still an ice session scheduled for tomorrow, Saturday, before our DEB-Young talent selection will play its opening match against Norway on Sunday, January 5, 2025.
World Cup preparation in Füssen
With today's 1-0 victory over Italy, the U18 women's team concludes their two-part World Cup preparation in Füssen. The team led by U18 women's national coach Sebastian Jones already played a test match in the first part of the training course. The opponents on Friday, December 27, 2024 were NAIT Oooks, a Canadian women's college team. The German young talent selection lost by a very narrow margin of 2:3 in overtime. A pre-arranged additional penalty shootout ultimately led to an unofficial 3:3 draw. Further on- and off-ice training sessions and meetings completed the World Cup preparation at the federal base in Ostallgäu.
U18 women's national coach Sebastian Jones on the World Cup preparation: "We had really good training days between Christmas and New Year, with a good game against very good opponents from Canada. We definitely took another step forward during this period, as we had hoped. We used the time to work on some details of our game. We were able to complete the preparation today with a win against Italy and are now looking forward to getting started soon. That is what we have been working towards together since July. We are excited and ready for the World Cup."
Results of the U18 women’s World Cup preparation:
29.12.2024 | Germany – NAIT Ooks 2:3 aet (goals: H. Weichenhain, A. Seyrer)
03.01.2025 | Germany – Italy 1-0 (goal: C. Poindl)
U18 Women's World Championship in Budapest (HUN)
The U18 Women's World Championship 2025 (Division I - Group A) will take place from Sunday, 5 to Saturday, 11 January 2025 in the Hungarian capital. In Budapest, the German young talent selection will play five games in seven days. The team led by U18 national coach Sebastian Jones will face the teams from Norway, Austria, France, Hungary and Italy. It all starts with the DEBteam on Sunday, January 5, 2025 at 16 p.m. against the Norwegians. The top teams after all matches have been completed can look forward to promotion to the top division.
U18 women's national coach Sebastian Jones on the upcoming World Cup: "We expect a close tournament. We have seen some of our opponents throughout the season and know that we are on the same level as some of the teams. In games like this, the form of the day can be decisive. It is a special tournament with a special format, which definitely makes for excitement. We are in good spirits. We have started a good process over the last few months, which we will focus on on site."
U18 Women's World Cup schedule:
05.01.2025 | 16:00 I Norway – Germany
06.01.2025 | 12:30 pm I Germany - Austria
08.01.2025 | 19:30 pm I Germany - France
10.01.2025 | 19:30 I Hungary – Germany
11.01.2025 | 16:00 pm I Germany – Italy
Paid live stream: ersteligatv.hu
Statistics: https://www.iihf.com/en/events/2025/ww18ia