Team USA's Megan Keller (#5) and Hilary Knight (#21) threaten the German net as goalie Sandra Abstreiter and defender Katarina Jobst-Smith (#28) defend.
photo: © INTERNATIONAL ICE HOCKEY FEDERATION / ANDREA CARDIN
Team USA advanced to the semi-finals of the 2025 IIHF Women’s World Championship with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Germany.
Goals from Kelly Pannek and Lacey Eden put the Americans up 2-0 in the first period, and Alex Carpenter added a third late in the middle frame. But a big goaltending display from Sandra Abstreiter kept the scoreline respectable for a hard-working German team with 47 saves.
“I’m really tired!” Abstreiter smiled. “We honestly held them off pretty well. They were obviously dominating us for the whole game, but I think we held up against them pretty well. I don’t think we made it super-easy for them.”
Historically, this game has been a mismatch. Germany has never defeated Team USA in World Championship play, and the aggregate score through seven previous meetings was 74-2. Germany’s last goal on this opponent was back in 2008.
That said, the previous meeting between the two countries at this stage in 2023 proved a closer battle. The Germans held a stacked American roster to just three goals, with Abstreiter making 49 saves in a defiant display in Brampton, Ontario. And the 2025 edition proved similar.
Abstreiter since moved to the PWHL, where she has been on the roster in Montreal this season. She was back in action today against U.S. goalie Aerin Frankel, whose 18 saves in that meeting two years ago brought her first shut-out in international play.
Yet the German has not featured in competitive action in North America, making her performance here all the more impressive. “[Montreal’s] a good environment, even if I’m not playing,” she said. “Especially today, I face those shots from those girls every single day. I’m used to the pace of it, that’s what I have in every single practice so that’s kind of what prepared me for today.
“But I don’t think it’s going to be my future. It’s obviously not my goal to not play games during the season but I think I’ve proved again that it kind of works for me.”
Today the 26-year-old German goalie faced a busy afternoon. Team USA quickly established its dominance of the play and got the opening goal after five minutes. Pannek’s one-timer was too much for Abstreiter and the Americans had the early breakthrough.
When Eden doubled the lead in the 11th minute, converting a rebound from the slot after Haley Winn’s shot was blocked by a defender, it was easy to fear a rout was on the way.
“The puck came right out to me in the slot after Haley took a shot,” Eden said of her goal. “I kind of just threw it on net and it happened to hit exactly where I was aiming for. It feels good to contribute to the goal-scoring, and it was awesome to get my first of the tournament.”
But, while the USA was always in control, Germany stuck to its task. Defensively, things tightened up and the game remained at 2-0 until late in the second period. Along the way, Abstreiter made some big saves, notably flinging out a skate to deny Britta Curl a certain goal after Kendall Coyne threatened on the wraparound. Earlier, Hilary Knight dinged the piping as the pressure built up on the German net.
“Germany played a really strong game,” said defender Cayla Barnes. “Their goaltender was phenomenal, but I like the way that we just kept pushing. That's part of our game, to keep going, keep pushing forward. And that showed today.”
However, Germany was not completely without opportunities. Late in the first period, the Welcke twins combined to generate a shooting chance, then Emily Nix showed a flash of the attacking verve that has brought her success in the SDHL. Her solo rush down the right saw her get around Winn in the circle before sending a shot to the side netting. And that was not completely out of character for her line in this encounter.
"We tried our best," Nix said. "Our stretch players did well and maybe next time we can get a goal as well.
“We wanted to work really hard, to get into the battles and to play physical. It’s always good to know where we stand and overall it was a good game for us.”
The third American goal came 67 seconds before the end of the middle frame. The U.S. top line cruised through centre ice and Hilary Knight added to her record assist tally when she set up Alex Carpenter. The New York Sirens forward shot from the left-hand circle, evading the efforts of one defender and bouncinginto the net via a deflection off Ronja Hark.
Germany still had targets to play for in the final frame: holding the USA goalless would equal a best-ever result in head-to-head match-ups. And there were also chances to score. Nix was a threat on the counter with her willingness to drive at the American defence, while a three-on-one chance in the close stages saw Laura Kluge fire over the bar when well placed.
Meanwhile, Abstreiter continued to work wonders at the other end. Knight opened her bag of tricks with some deft stick-handling on the doorstep; the goalie read it in bold print. Curl surged clear of the defence, Abstreiter sprawled to make the save. That matched Germany's all-time best result against the USA, but it's the Americans who advance to the medal games.
“It feels great,” Barnes concluded. “This was our goal from the start, so we’re just making forward steps every single day. We’ve pushed this far. So we’re just excited to be here.”
Goals from Kelly Pannek and Lacey Eden put the Americans up 2-0 in the first period, and Alex Carpenter added a third late in the middle frame. But a big goaltending display from Sandra Abstreiter kept the scoreline respectable for a hard-working German team with 47 saves.
“I’m really tired!” Abstreiter smiled. “We honestly held them off pretty well. They were obviously dominating us for the whole game, but I think we held up against them pretty well. I don’t think we made it super-easy for them.”
Historically, this game has been a mismatch. Germany has never defeated Team USA in World Championship play, and the aggregate score through seven previous meetings was 74-2. Germany’s last goal on this opponent was back in 2008.
That said, the previous meeting between the two countries at this stage in 2023 proved a closer battle. The Germans held a stacked American roster to just three goals, with Abstreiter making 49 saves in a defiant display in Brampton, Ontario. And the 2025 edition proved similar.
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Abstreiter since moved to the PWHL, where she has been on the roster in Montreal this season. She was back in action today against U.S. goalie Aerin Frankel, whose 18 saves in that meeting two years ago brought her first shut-out in international play.
Yet the German has not featured in competitive action in North America, making her performance here all the more impressive. “[Montreal’s] a good environment, even if I’m not playing,” she said. “Especially today, I face those shots from those girls every single day. I’m used to the pace of it, that’s what I have in every single practice so that’s kind of what prepared me for today.
“But I don’t think it’s going to be my future. It’s obviously not my goal to not play games during the season but I think I’ve proved again that it kind of works for me.”
Today the 26-year-old German goalie faced a busy afternoon. Team USA quickly established its dominance of the play and got the opening goal after five minutes. Pannek’s one-timer was too much for Abstreiter and the Americans had the early breakthrough.
When Eden doubled the lead in the 11th minute, converting a rebound from the slot after Haley Winn’s shot was blocked by a defender, it was easy to fear a rout was on the way.
“The puck came right out to me in the slot after Haley took a shot,” Eden said of her goal. “I kind of just threw it on net and it happened to hit exactly where I was aiming for. It feels good to contribute to the goal-scoring, and it was awesome to get my first of the tournament.”
But, while the USA was always in control, Germany stuck to its task. Defensively, things tightened up and the game remained at 2-0 until late in the second period. Along the way, Abstreiter made some big saves, notably flinging out a skate to deny Britta Curl a certain goal after Kendall Coyne threatened on the wraparound. Earlier, Hilary Knight dinged the piping as the pressure built up on the German net.
“Germany played a really strong game,” said defender Cayla Barnes. “Their goaltender was phenomenal, but I like the way that we just kept pushing. That's part of our game, to keep going, keep pushing forward. And that showed today.”
However, Germany was not completely without opportunities. Late in the first period, the Welcke twins combined to generate a shooting chance, then Emily Nix showed a flash of the attacking verve that has brought her success in the SDHL. Her solo rush down the right saw her get around Winn in the circle before sending a shot to the side netting. And that was not completely out of character for her line in this encounter.
"We tried our best," Nix said. "Our stretch players did well and maybe next time we can get a goal as well.
“We wanted to work really hard, to get into the battles and to play physical. It’s always good to know where we stand and overall it was a good game for us.”
The third American goal came 67 seconds before the end of the middle frame. The U.S. top line cruised through centre ice and Hilary Knight added to her record assist tally when she set up Alex Carpenter. The New York Sirens forward shot from the left-hand circle, evading the efforts of one defender and bouncinginto the net via a deflection off Ronja Hark.
Germany still had targets to play for in the final frame: holding the USA goalless would equal a best-ever result in head-to-head match-ups. And there were also chances to score. Nix was a threat on the counter with her willingness to drive at the American defence, while a three-on-one chance in the close stages saw Laura Kluge fire over the bar when well placed.
Meanwhile, Abstreiter continued to work wonders at the other end. Knight opened her bag of tricks with some deft stick-handling on the doorstep; the goalie read it in bold print. Curl surged clear of the defence, Abstreiter sprawled to make the save. That matched Germany's all-time best result against the USA, but it's the Americans who advance to the medal games.
“It feels great,” Barnes concluded. “This was our goal from the start, so we’re just making forward steps every single day. We’ve pushed this far. So we’re just excited to be here.”
United States vs Germany - Quarter-final #2 - 2025 IIHF Women's World Championship
OF