The German women's national team lost the preliminary round match against Japan at the 2025 IIHF Ice Hockey Women's World Championship with 0:1 (0:0, 0:1, 0:0). The quarterfinals had been secured by the DEBselection had already secured their place the day before with a win against Hungary. DEBThe team will now face the USA in the World Cup quarter-finals.
The 1.703 spectators at the Budvar Arena in České Budějovice witnessed a disciplined performance from both teams from the outset, leaving few mistakes. The first period ended goalless. The Japanese, in particular, had several opportunities to take the lead. Sandra Abstreiter, who was in goal again for the German team today, parried all of the Asians' attempts. Tabea Botthof had the best scoring opportunity for the German women midway through the period, with a shot that hit the crossbar.
In the second period, the Japanese increased the pressure and became increasingly dangerous in front of the German goal. After winning a face-off, Rui Ukita targeted and hit the 1-0 lead from Japan's perspective (26th minute)Shortly after, Laura Kluge narrowly missed the equalizer. In its second shorthanded game (27th) of the afternoon, the DEBThe team played consistently and prevented another goal. The German team was unable to gain control of the game during the remainder of the period. Many attacking attempts were thwarted early on by Japan, resulting in a 40-17 shot-on-shot advantage after 23 minutes.
After the second break, the team of women's national coach Jeff MacLeod found their way into the game better and was able to push Japan into the defensive zone for long stretches. However, dangerous scoring opportunities initially failed to materialize. Emily Nix had the best chance in the 50th minuteHer attempt was blocked by the Japanese goalkeeper. With the remaining time running out, the game took place mostly in the Japanese third. An equalizer was in the air, but even with one more player, the DEBThe team didn't score a goal that afternoon. Japan won this hard-fought match by a very narrow margin, 1-0.
Sandra Abstreiter was the best German player.
The time for the game against USA will be announced in the evening. MagentaSport will broadcast the quarter-finals live and free of charge.
The voices about the game:
Women's national coach Jeff MacLeod: "In the first period, we put in a solid performance both defensively and offensively. Of course, there were still things both teams needed to work on. Unfortunately, we lost focus a bit in the middle period. I'm glad we took up the challenge in the last 20 minutes and could have tied the game. With our performance throughout the entire period, we could have won the game."
DEB-Goalkeeper Sandra Abstreiter: "We didn't do the simple things right today. The Japanese women rewarded their hard work and scored that one goal. For me, it was good to get a lot of shots today. Especially with the quarterfinals against the USA in mind."