photo: Andre Ringuette/IIHF
The Americans poured on the offence for the third straight game, defeating an overwhelmed Finland by a 14-0 score on the final day of the preliminary round to finish first in Group B. The winless Finns end group play in last place and are in danger of having to play in the relegation game if they can't defeat the first place team from Group A in the playoffs.
The game had no effect on the Group B standings in that had the Americans lost, they still would have finished first, and a Finnish win would not have moved them from fourth to third. However, because Group A is more wide open, Group B teams won’t know their quarter-finals opponents until later today.
Jane Daley netted a hat trick for the Americans, becoming the first player in WW18 history to record three consecutive, three-goal games. Some 15 players had at least one point, and five players had four. Morgan Stickney stopped just seven shots for her second shutout of the tournament.
At the other end, the U.S. fired 71 shots at two beleaguered Finnish goaltenders.
"At the beginning, I was a little underwhelmed in the sense that I hold them very accountable to playing the game the right way and the details of it," said U.S. coach Courtney Kennedy. "And I thought we kind of turned it around. What I like to see is when I bring it up and we ask for these changes and these fixes, to see them actually respond."
"We made a pretty good effort in the first two periods, but I don't know what happened in third period," said goalie Saimi Pesola, who came on in relief to start the second period. "It just took a turn. I'm glad everybody just kept positive and nobody broke."
The winners started with goals 12 seconds apart early in the game. Emily Pohl opened the scoring at 7:16 when she turned and fired a shot from the top of the circle that squirted through the pads of Pihla Ikonen, who was making her national-team debut.
Then, off the ensuing faceoff at centre, Annabelle Lovell came down the wing and blasted a shot over Ikonen’s glove to stake the U.S. to an early 2-0 lead.
Seven minutes later, they added to their tally. Alaina Gnetz cut in on her off wing and barrelled past Viivi-Maija Ruonakoski before getting off a quick shot that surprised the goalie. And then, the U.S. added three late goals, two coming just eleven seconds apart.
Sloane Hartmetz got the first one at 17:57 on a power play, snapping a rebound that came to the back side and offering an open net. Off the next faceoff at centre, the puck came to Bailey Rupp outside the Finland blue line, giving her a clear path to the net. She deked Ikonen for the fifth goal of the game.
And then for good measure, Daley got her tournament-leading 7th goal off a sharp-angle snipe on another power play, bringing a 25-3 shots-on-goal period to a disheartening conclusion for the Finns.
Pesola took over in the net for Finland to start the second, and as we have seen before in this tournament, the incoming goalie gave up a goal on her first shot faced. In this case, Lindsay Stepnowski gave Pesola a rude welcome, making a nice deke to up the score to 7-0 just 1:38 into the second.
But the Finns managed to settle down and play controlled hockey and didn’t allow another goal until midway through the middle period, on an unlucky moment at that. Pesola lost the puck in the crease for a second, just as an American power play came a close, and Lovell was right there to poke it in for her second of the night.
Later, the U.S. got a proper play-play goal off a sharp-angle shot by Talla Hansen, making it 9-0. In the third, the domination continued and Finland struggled to get the puck out of their own end and gain possession for any length of time. Gnetz added to the tally midway through on a scramble in front, bringing the score into double digits.
They added four more down the stretch, including two from Daley to give her a hat trick in her third straight game.
"I think Finland is well coached, and I think their players know the scene," Kennedy added. "They're reading the play. They're smart, so I know that they were picking off some plays that normally we could put through. I don't think we got too rattled, and they stayed with it."
"We went around the room and asked what everybody feels right now," said Finland coach Mira Kuisma. "We work a lot of our feelings and emotions, and we've got to go through with through those because we have an important game in two days. We have to keep playing the way we played in first two periods. We call that the Finnish 'gut', suolisto."
The game had no effect on the Group B standings in that had the Americans lost, they still would have finished first, and a Finnish win would not have moved them from fourth to third. However, because Group A is more wide open, Group B teams won’t know their quarter-finals opponents until later today.
Jane Daley netted a hat trick for the Americans, becoming the first player in WW18 history to record three consecutive, three-goal games. Some 15 players had at least one point, and five players had four. Morgan Stickney stopped just seven shots for her second shutout of the tournament.
At the other end, the U.S. fired 71 shots at two beleaguered Finnish goaltenders.
"At the beginning, I was a little underwhelmed in the sense that I hold them very accountable to playing the game the right way and the details of it," said U.S. coach Courtney Kennedy. "And I thought we kind of turned it around. What I like to see is when I bring it up and we ask for these changes and these fixes, to see them actually respond."
"We made a pretty good effort in the first two periods, but I don't know what happened in third period," said goalie Saimi Pesola, who came on in relief to start the second period. "It just took a turn. I'm glad everybody just kept positive and nobody broke."
The winners started with goals 12 seconds apart early in the game. Emily Pohl opened the scoring at 7:16 when she turned and fired a shot from the top of the circle that squirted through the pads of Pihla Ikonen, who was making her national-team debut.
Then, off the ensuing faceoff at centre, Annabelle Lovell came down the wing and blasted a shot over Ikonen’s glove to stake the U.S. to an early 2-0 lead.
Seven minutes later, they added to their tally. Alaina Gnetz cut in on her off wing and barrelled past Viivi-Maija Ruonakoski before getting off a quick shot that surprised the goalie. And then, the U.S. added three late goals, two coming just eleven seconds apart.
Sloane Hartmetz got the first one at 17:57 on a power play, snapping a rebound that came to the back side and offering an open net. Off the next faceoff at centre, the puck came to Bailey Rupp outside the Finland blue line, giving her a clear path to the net. She deked Ikonen for the fifth goal of the game.
And then for good measure, Daley got her tournament-leading 7th goal off a sharp-angle snipe on another power play, bringing a 25-3 shots-on-goal period to a disheartening conclusion for the Finns.
Pesola took over in the net for Finland to start the second, and as we have seen before in this tournament, the incoming goalie gave up a goal on her first shot faced. In this case, Lindsay Stepnowski gave Pesola a rude welcome, making a nice deke to up the score to 7-0 just 1:38 into the second.
But the Finns managed to settle down and play controlled hockey and didn’t allow another goal until midway through the middle period, on an unlucky moment at that. Pesola lost the puck in the crease for a second, just as an American power play came a close, and Lovell was right there to poke it in for her second of the night.
Later, the U.S. got a proper play-play goal off a sharp-angle shot by Talla Hansen, making it 9-0. In the third, the domination continued and Finland struggled to get the puck out of their own end and gain possession for any length of time. Gnetz added to the tally midway through on a scramble in front, bringing the score into double digits.
They added four more down the stretch, including two from Daley to give her a hat trick in her third straight game.
"I think Finland is well coached, and I think their players know the scene," Kennedy added. "They're reading the play. They're smart, so I know that they were picking off some plays that normally we could put through. I don't think we got too rattled, and they stayed with it."
"We went around the room and asked what everybody feels right now," said Finland coach Mira Kuisma. "We work a lot of our feelings and emotions, and we've got to go through with through those because we have an important game in two days. We have to keep playing the way we played in first two periods. We call that the Finnish 'gut', suolisto."
USA vs Finland - 2026 IIHF U18 Women's Worlds Championship
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