The German women's ice hockey team won their final preliminary round game of the Olympic ice hockey tournament in Milan. Coach Jeff MacLeod's team defeated Italy 2-1 (0-0, 1-1, 1-0) in front of 3.898 spectators at the Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena. Emily Nix and Laura Kluge scored the goals.
Katharina Häckelsmiller returned to the German lineup, with Sandra Abstreiter starting in goal. Nicola Hadraschek-Eisenschmid celebrated her 200th international appearance, and Lilli Welcke played her 50th time for the German women's national team.
The first period ended scoreless. Both teams were evenly matched and created chances from the start. Svenja Voigt narrowly missed in the very first minute. After the first penalty against the German team, the hosts also had their first opportunities on the power play to test Abstreiter. Shortly before the intermission, Matilde Fantin for the biggest excitement in front of the German goal.
Just 21 seconds after the restart, Italy scored the first goal. Anna Caumo fired a shot directly after winning a face-off, and Justine Reyes deflected it in for a 1-0 lead (21st minute). After 30 minutes, the post saved the German team, preventing them from falling further behind. Shortly afterward, Emily Nix scored the deserved equalizer (33rd minute) after a pass from Laura Kluge, who brought the puck in from the left side. This score remained the score at the intermission.
In the final period, Kluge had the first chance for the German team after three minutes, when the forward found herself open to shoot just in front of the net. Germany's third power play (starting in the 48th minute) came to nothing, but Italy had the best opportunity to regain the lead on the counterattack. During two further power plays for Germany, Italy defended tightly and allowed no significant scoring chances. The hosts also failed to capitalize on a power play of their own. With about a minute and a half remaining, Kluge capped off a solo effort with the game-winning goal (59th minute).
The quarter-final qualification of the women's ice hockey team The opponent for the German team was already determined before the match, as Sweden had won their final preliminary round game against Japan. Germany's opponent will be known after the Canada vs. Finland match. The team, coached by Jeff MacLeod, will face the runner-up from Group A, having finished second in Group B.
Statistics for the game #ITAGER
Official IIHF statistics: Game Stats #ITAGER
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Voices on the game #ITAGER
National coach Jeff MacLeod“We are very proud to have reached the quarterfinals! It was a very tough 60 minutes for both teams today, but our players fought through it and had to take some hard hits. Today's game was very good preparation for the quarterfinals. We want to carry what we showed into the next game. We will now prepare intensively for that and will use the next few days – whoever our next opponent may be. We have to play our best game, then anything is possible. We will come together as a team in the next few days and be ready together.”
Laura Kluge"Reaching the quarterfinals feels incredible! We set out to win every game in the group stage, but didn't get off to the best start. We've improved with each game since then and can be very proud of our performance. Italy didn't make it easy for us, but we deserved to win today. Now we're facing one of the two title contenders in the quarterfinals, against whom we have nothing to lose. We'll prepare very well for the match, give it our all, and we're really looking forward to it."