photo: Matt Zambonin: IIHF
Team Canada overcame some early adversity to clinch the top spot in Group A with an 9-2 win over Sweden on the final day of the preliminary round at the 2026 IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship.
"We were waiting for this, to see how they would respond when we got scored against early," said Canada's coach,Vicky Sunohara. "I think we had a good response. The bench stayed pretty light. I think our response was pretty important at this stage of the tournament."
In front of 1,314 fans at the Sport and Wellness Centre in Membertou, Nova Scotia, Sofia Ismael notched a hat trick and Rosalie Tremblay scored two goals. Rachel Piggott, Kate Viel, Hayley McDonald and Alida Korte added singles for Canada, which wrapped up the preliminary round by outscoring its opposition by a total of 32-2 over three games.
Ismael also notched an assist, giving her a team-leading nine points in the preliminary round. Eight Canadian players had two-point games, including the captain McDonald and forward Adrianna Milani. They join Korte with seven points each in the round-robin.
Tremblay was named the best player of the game for Canada, while Miranda Lindstrom earned the honour for Sweden.
"I thought we delivered a good performance," Tremblay said. "It wasn't our best start, but we stuck to our habits and played the right way all the way."
In goal, Canadian netminder Lea-Rose Charrois picked up her second win while facing 11 shots. Thea Holmberg took the loss for Sweden in her second start, making 18 saves.
Fifteen-year-old winger Moa Stridh became the first scorer to beat a Canadian goaltender this week when she gave the Swedes the early lead. Just 5:10 into the first period, she set off jubilant cheers from the large contingent of Tre Kronor fans that stood out amidst the sea of red. Stridh scored after intercepting a Canadian clearing pass along the right wing and firing a quick wrister past Charrois.
Playing with the lead, Sweden controlled play briefly, before the powerful Canadians began to flex their muscles.
"We're a good team and know after this game we can beat them," said Swedish defender Selma Karlsson. "We had a good start. We wanted to work on that, and we are happy with that part of the game."
Tremblay started the scoring when she picked a corner after speeding down the wing at 7:52.
Soon after, nine seconds after Sweden successfully killed an interference penalty to Emma Johnson, Tremblay struck again by cutting to the slot and firing a quick snap shot past Holmberg.
Before the first period was over, the 17-year-old from Sherbrooke, Que. nearly claimed her hat trick. After gaining the zone with speed on left wing, her shot narrowly missed the far post.
Piggott joined the fun with 2:28 left in the opening frame, corralling a bouncing puck in the slot and shoveling it past Holmberg.
The second period started off tight-checking, and Sweden narrowed the gap to 3-2 when Inez Nygren sprung Grillfors for a breakaway goal with 9:21 remaining. That seemed to ignite a spark for the Canadians, who drove the score up to 7-2 before heading to their locker room at intermission. Kate Viel threaded her first of the tournament through from the blue line to make it 4-2, followed by Sofia Ismael’s third of the event, then a pair of late power-play goals from captain Hayley McDonald and Ismael.
"We started very well but then we started to turn the puck over too often and they started to score," said Swedish coach Andreas Karlsson. "But it's all difficult to play short-handed so much. We took too many penalties. But we will learn from this and prepare for Slovakia."
Ismael picked up her hat-trick goal on the power play with 9:26 left to play in the third. Korte wrapped things up with a shorthanded tally with 8:21 remaining.
Canada’s win sets up a quarterfinal clash with Finland at Thursday’s quarterfinals, where all eight teams from Groups A and B will cross over.
Finishing second in their group, Sweden will meet Slovakia. The opponents for the United States and Czechia will be determined by the outcome of Tuesday’s final contest between Switzerland and Hungary.
"We were waiting for this, to see how they would respond when we got scored against early," said Canada's coach,Vicky Sunohara. "I think we had a good response. The bench stayed pretty light. I think our response was pretty important at this stage of the tournament."
In front of 1,314 fans at the Sport and Wellness Centre in Membertou, Nova Scotia, Sofia Ismael notched a hat trick and Rosalie Tremblay scored two goals. Rachel Piggott, Kate Viel, Hayley McDonald and Alida Korte added singles for Canada, which wrapped up the preliminary round by outscoring its opposition by a total of 32-2 over three games.
Ismael also notched an assist, giving her a team-leading nine points in the preliminary round. Eight Canadian players had two-point games, including the captain McDonald and forward Adrianna Milani. They join Korte with seven points each in the round-robin.
Tremblay was named the best player of the game for Canada, while Miranda Lindstrom earned the honour for Sweden.
"I thought we delivered a good performance," Tremblay said. "It wasn't our best start, but we stuck to our habits and played the right way all the way."
In goal, Canadian netminder Lea-Rose Charrois picked up her second win while facing 11 shots. Thea Holmberg took the loss for Sweden in her second start, making 18 saves.
Fifteen-year-old winger Moa Stridh became the first scorer to beat a Canadian goaltender this week when she gave the Swedes the early lead. Just 5:10 into the first period, she set off jubilant cheers from the large contingent of Tre Kronor fans that stood out amidst the sea of red. Stridh scored after intercepting a Canadian clearing pass along the right wing and firing a quick wrister past Charrois.
Playing with the lead, Sweden controlled play briefly, before the powerful Canadians began to flex their muscles.
"We're a good team and know after this game we can beat them," said Swedish defender Selma Karlsson. "We had a good start. We wanted to work on that, and we are happy with that part of the game."
Tremblay started the scoring when she picked a corner after speeding down the wing at 7:52.
Soon after, nine seconds after Sweden successfully killed an interference penalty to Emma Johnson, Tremblay struck again by cutting to the slot and firing a quick snap shot past Holmberg.
Before the first period was over, the 17-year-old from Sherbrooke, Que. nearly claimed her hat trick. After gaining the zone with speed on left wing, her shot narrowly missed the far post.
Piggott joined the fun with 2:28 left in the opening frame, corralling a bouncing puck in the slot and shoveling it past Holmberg.
The second period started off tight-checking, and Sweden narrowed the gap to 3-2 when Inez Nygren sprung Grillfors for a breakaway goal with 9:21 remaining. That seemed to ignite a spark for the Canadians, who drove the score up to 7-2 before heading to their locker room at intermission. Kate Viel threaded her first of the tournament through from the blue line to make it 4-2, followed by Sofia Ismael’s third of the event, then a pair of late power-play goals from captain Hayley McDonald and Ismael.
"We started very well but then we started to turn the puck over too often and they started to score," said Swedish coach Andreas Karlsson. "But it's all difficult to play short-handed so much. We took too many penalties. But we will learn from this and prepare for Slovakia."
Ismael picked up her hat-trick goal on the power play with 9:26 left to play in the third. Korte wrapped things up with a shorthanded tally with 8:21 remaining.
Canada’s win sets up a quarterfinal clash with Finland at Thursday’s quarterfinals, where all eight teams from Groups A and B will cross over.
Finishing second in their group, Sweden will meet Slovakia. The opponents for the United States and Czechia will be determined by the outcome of Tuesday’s final contest between Switzerland and Hungary.
Canada vs Sweden - 2026 IIHF U18 Women's Worlds Championship
OF