photo: Andre Ringuette/IIHF
With rookie goalies between the pipes for both teams, Czechia topped Finland 9-1 in Day 1 action at the 2026 U18 Women’s World Championship.
Tereza Gildainova and Adele Mynarikova scored twice for the Czechs and five other players chipped in as the bronze medalists from 2025 joined the defending silver medalists from the United States at the top of the Group B standings. Tinja Tapani scored the only goal for the Finns, and defender Neea Ketola was named Finland's best player of the game.
In net, fifteen-year-old Lili Chmelarova earned the win in her tournament debut, making 18 saves and earning a cheer from her teammates when she was named Czechia’s best player. Finland’s Eerika Kujala, 16, also played her first game at this level, making 37 saves in 56:08 of action.
Special teams were a force for the Czechs, who scored twice on the power play and once shorthanded. Finland's lone goal came with the Czechs two players short in the first period.
After being ousted from the 2025 quarterfinal in Vantaa following a 6-0 loss, the Finnish bench erupted when Tapani opened the scoring midway through the first period on Saturday. Thirty seconds into a 5-on-3 power play, she took a pass in the slot from Netta Siitonen and rifled it past Czech stopper Lili Chmelarova with 8:02 remaining in the first period.
But the lead didn’t hold up for long. With Siiri Friederksen boxed for holding, Lucie Sindelarova set up behind the goal line, then fed Adela Pankova for a one-timer in the slot to tie the game.
Later in the period, Mynarikova sprung out of the penalty box after serving a cross-checking minor to create an odd-player rush with Andrea Kantorova. Following the give-and-go, Kantorova beat Eerika Kujala to give the Czechs their first lead of the game.
"We started well, but then we started not to play well and we ended poorly," said Tapani. "We know we can play better than this. We need to improve every time we play."
The Czechs began to take control of the game in the back half of the second period.
Just after a power play, the continued to press in the Finnish zone before Kantorova and Mynarikova combined again, this time with Mynarikova successfully pulling the trigger from the bottom of the face-off circle.
With less than a minute to play in the middle frame, Gildainova extended the lead to 4-1 when she raced down left wing and fired an uncontested wrister past Kujala.
"We talked in the room about the slow start," said Gildainova. "We just said, let's go out and beat them. It's our first game. We've played them a few times before this tournament, so we had the confidence to know we can beat them. That was important for us."
The second period wrapped after a scrum around the Czech net, which led to offsetting penalties to Tapani and the Czechs’ Katerina Pencikova.
The Czech offense caught fire in the third, with five goals before Kujala was pulled in favor of Saimi Pesola with 3:52 remaining. Sindelarova started the onslaught, followed by Dana Brezinova with a spectacular power-play effort. Gildainova followed up with her second of the day, shorthanded, with 7:12 remaining, then Ellen Jarabkova got her first before Mynarikova logged her second to end Kujala's day.
"I talked to them about confidence and puck management because we were playing scared with the puck," said Czech coach Dusan Andrasovsky. "This was the first game of the tournament. They're a young team, and were afraid. It was important we make some changes in how we played."
Pesola stopped all seven shots she faced, giving Czechia a final edge of 53-19.
When the dust settled, Mynarikova had a four-point game with two goals and two assists. Gildainova (2-1-3), Kantorova (1-2-3) and Czech captain Julie Jebouskova (0-3-3) had three points each and four players had two-point days.
With the win, Czechia improves to 8-0-10 against Finland in U18 women's worlds history.
Both teams will be back in action on Sunday. Finland will face 0-1 in the matinee game before Czechia takes on 1-0 Team USA.
Tereza Gildainova and Adele Mynarikova scored twice for the Czechs and five other players chipped in as the bronze medalists from 2025 joined the defending silver medalists from the United States at the top of the Group B standings. Tinja Tapani scored the only goal for the Finns, and defender Neea Ketola was named Finland's best player of the game.
In net, fifteen-year-old Lili Chmelarova earned the win in her tournament debut, making 18 saves and earning a cheer from her teammates when she was named Czechia’s best player. Finland’s Eerika Kujala, 16, also played her first game at this level, making 37 saves in 56:08 of action.
Special teams were a force for the Czechs, who scored twice on the power play and once shorthanded. Finland's lone goal came with the Czechs two players short in the first period.
After being ousted from the 2025 quarterfinal in Vantaa following a 6-0 loss, the Finnish bench erupted when Tapani opened the scoring midway through the first period on Saturday. Thirty seconds into a 5-on-3 power play, she took a pass in the slot from Netta Siitonen and rifled it past Czech stopper Lili Chmelarova with 8:02 remaining in the first period.
But the lead didn’t hold up for long. With Siiri Friederksen boxed for holding, Lucie Sindelarova set up behind the goal line, then fed Adela Pankova for a one-timer in the slot to tie the game.
Later in the period, Mynarikova sprung out of the penalty box after serving a cross-checking minor to create an odd-player rush with Andrea Kantorova. Following the give-and-go, Kantorova beat Eerika Kujala to give the Czechs their first lead of the game.
"We started well, but then we started not to play well and we ended poorly," said Tapani. "We know we can play better than this. We need to improve every time we play."
The Czechs began to take control of the game in the back half of the second period.
Just after a power play, the continued to press in the Finnish zone before Kantorova and Mynarikova combined again, this time with Mynarikova successfully pulling the trigger from the bottom of the face-off circle.
With less than a minute to play in the middle frame, Gildainova extended the lead to 4-1 when she raced down left wing and fired an uncontested wrister past Kujala.
"We talked in the room about the slow start," said Gildainova. "We just said, let's go out and beat them. It's our first game. We've played them a few times before this tournament, so we had the confidence to know we can beat them. That was important for us."
The second period wrapped after a scrum around the Czech net, which led to offsetting penalties to Tapani and the Czechs’ Katerina Pencikova.
The Czech offense caught fire in the third, with five goals before Kujala was pulled in favor of Saimi Pesola with 3:52 remaining. Sindelarova started the onslaught, followed by Dana Brezinova with a spectacular power-play effort. Gildainova followed up with her second of the day, shorthanded, with 7:12 remaining, then Ellen Jarabkova got her first before Mynarikova logged her second to end Kujala's day.
"I talked to them about confidence and puck management because we were playing scared with the puck," said Czech coach Dusan Andrasovsky. "This was the first game of the tournament. They're a young team, and were afraid. It was important we make some changes in how we played."
Pesola stopped all seven shots she faced, giving Czechia a final edge of 53-19.
When the dust settled, Mynarikova had a four-point game with two goals and two assists. Gildainova (2-1-3), Kantorova (1-2-3) and Czech captain Julie Jebouskova (0-3-3) had three points each and four players had two-point days.
With the win, Czechia improves to 8-0-10 against Finland in U18 women's worlds history.
Both teams will be back in action on Sunday. Finland will face 0-1 in the matinee game before Czechia takes on 1-0 Team USA.
Czechia vs Finland - 2026 IIHF U18 Women's Worlds Championship
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