The U18 women's national team has lost the fifth and final game at the 2025 IIHF World Championship in Division 1A. The team of national coach Sebastian Jones lost 0:3 against Italy. For the German team, the World Championship in Budapest (Hungary) ends today - the trip home to Germany is planned for tomorrow.
Both teams largely neutralized each other in the first few minutes of the match, and it was only during the first period that both sides had any notable offensive actions. The German team had a few good opportunities just before the break, but they went into the dressing room with a draw that was fair.
In the second half, the pace of the game increased noticeably and the duels became more intense. DEBselection had several good scoring opportunities - but the puck just wouldn't go into the goal. A penalty against the German team then brought the Italians into the game. Maddalena Bedont scored the lead in the power play (34th minute). Italy kept the pressure on after that and used this sequence to make it 2-0 in the 38th minute through Emily Innocenti.
In the final period, the German team picked up the pace again and created more scoring opportunities. But once again the puck just wouldn't cross the line. So national coach Sebastian Jones risked everything early on and took German goalkeeper Hannah Loist off the ice in favor of a sixth field player around four minutes before the end. But in keeping with the course of the game, it was ultimately the Italians who made the final score 0:3 from Germany's perspective with an empty-net goal.
Voice of the game and the tournament
U18 women's national coach Sebastian Jones on the game: "It was a challenge to go into the game today after yesterday's disappointment. We prepared the team for this in our meetings and we went into the game with the appropriate motivation. Both teams neutralized each other for long stretches in the first half, although we had a few situations in the second half in which we could have scored the first goal and thus brought the momentum to our side. The Italians then took exactly that energy with the unfortunate goal they conceded while they were outnumbered. The positive thing is that we pulled ourselves together in the final period and put Italy under pressure again. Unfortunately, we were not able to catch up. That's why we were not able to find a way back into the game."
U18 women’s national coach Sebastian Jones on the tournament: "We had a young team with us, and we saw a lot of positive things from them. We can also learn a lot from the experience at the tournament. That applies to us as coaches, to the team and to our players individually. We saw how tough a tournament like this is with many teams on the same level. It's all about the little things, every change and loyalty to the system. All in all, the Hungarians, as tournament winners, handled it best. We had a great group together that was willing to learn and absorbed every input attentively. They want to work on themselves, that's fun to see and is a good prospect for the future. In the medium term, we want to get back into the A group, but that is based on a process that we as DEB There are simply many structural challenges in women's young talent work in Germany that we want to see and improve."
DEB-Sports director Christian Künast: "We saw many good approaches and scenes from our young team in the five World Cup games. Our players were disciplined and focused for long stretches within our system, which is the right way to show consistent performances at a high level. In the end, there were a few moments in the games against France and Hungary that didn't go our way and prevented us from competing for promotion. Nevertheless, we compliment the whole team and the coaching staff around national coach Sebastian Jones for an overall good performance that we can build on. We know full well that we still have a lot of work to do to get back into the A group of nations. Ultimately, the result at the World Cup reflects the current status in this age group in Germany. This is where we need to work together with the clubs on young talent work and talent promotion."
Statistics for the game on the IIHF website: https://www.iihf.com/en/events/2025/ww18ia/gamecenter/playbyplay/64369/14-ger-vs-ita
IIHF tournament website: https://www.iihf.com/en/events/2025/ww18ia