In front of 1,453 fans at Sunday’s bronze-medal game, the Czechs white-knuckled their way through the third period to beat Sweden 4-3.
Adela Mynarikova, Adela Krenkova, Adela Pankova and Katerina Pencikova scored for Czechia. Moa Stridh scored twice for Sweden and Inez Nygren added a single.
"We were so excited and wanted to win this game," Krenkova said. "We told ourselves to leave yesterday’s game behind and focus on this game only."
For the bronze-medal game, both coaches elected to start the backup goalies who pulled relief duties in their semi-final games.
Her team's tournament finale was the first first start for Czechia's Veronika Ortova after she relieved Lili Chmelarova in tough games against Canada the the U.S. At the other end, Thea Holmberg, 16, got the start with a 1-2 record over 180 minutes of action. She played the third period of Sweden's semi-final against the Americans.
"Yesterday after dinner we had a short meeting with the coaches and decided we would start Ortova," said Czech coach Dusan Andrasovsky. She was very good in the last game."
Ortova finished with 35 saves, standing especially tall while facing four Swedish power plays in the third period. Holmgren finished with 21 stops.
With the stakes now at their highest, both sides started off playing a tight-checking style in the closely contested match.
At 8:49 of the first, Mynarikova opened the scoring for Czechia, skating with speed down right wing and firing a wrister from distance for her third of the tournament.
Just 25 seconds later, the Czechs earned their first power play of the game when Emma Johnson went off for hooking. Sweden killed the penalty successfully.
The Czechs added a second goal with 6:22 left in the first. Captain Julie Jebouskova snagged a loose puck after a battle on the side boards and threaded a perfect pass to Krenkova in the slot.
The third goal came with 1:10 left to play in Period 1, when Pankova drove to the net and flipped the puck between Holmberg’s pads for her third of the tournament.
Shots on goal were 12-6 Czechia after one.
"We tried to get the puck behind their defence and we had good puck control in front of the net on the first goal," Andrasovsky said. "And the second and third goal the same, good pressure and the puck around their net. They played with confidence although the second period wasn’t so great, but we came back, which was the most important thing."
In the second, Tre Kronor redoubled its effort to try to get back in the game.
"We talked in the first intermission about never giving up and to show that we’re a good team," said Swedish defender Ebba Hesselvall. "We didn’t have a very good start, but we finished strong. Overall, we had a good tournament, but of course there are things we could have done better."
With 8:04 left in the first, they got rewarded when Stridh used her long reach to reel in a puck in the corner, then cut to the net and jam it home.
Just 10 seconds later, the Swedes earned their first power play of the game when Aneta Paroubkova took down the scorer, Stridh. Fifty-six seconds after that, Nygren narrowed the deficit to one goal with a deft net-front tip.
Late in the period, Czechia restored its two-goal lead. Two seconds after Sweden successfully killed a tripping minor to Selma Karlsson, Pencikova wired a hot shot from the left face-off dot past Holmberg.
From there, the Czechs continued to press. With exactly two minutes left in the second, Svea Nordqvist unsuccessfully tried to plead her case before being boxed for a holding call in the defensive zone. On the kill, Swedish defender Elsa Blarand deftly swept away a sure goal as the puck lingered at the top of the crease. Later, the puck bounced along the goal line behind Holmberg but stayed out.
After 40 minutes, Czechia maintained a 4-2 lead. Shots in the second were 18-13 for Sweden, narrowing the Czechs' edge on the shot clock to 25-24.
To start the third, the Czechs were nearly perfect defensively, keeping their opponents to the outside and the puck far away from Ortova. But Sweden returned to the power play at the 4:38 mark of the period when Tereza Gildainova took a penalty for an illegal hit along the boards in the neutral zone. After some solid puck movement, Stridh struck again from the high slot.
As the third period reached its midpoint, the Czechs faced more penalty trouble. After a review, Dana Bresinova was assessed a minor for interfering with Tilde Grillfors along the end boards with 9:49 left to play in regulation. Sweden maintained possession and got numerous shots off, but the danger was averted.
Bresinova went back to the box with 5:47 to go for another illegal hit, and the Czechs delivered another successful kill.
With 1:34 remaining, Lucie Sindelarova looked to have scored the insurance goal for her side. A video review overturned the call on the ice, keeping the margin at one.
With 30 seconds left on the clock and the goalie on the bench for the extra attacker, Ortova delivered a potentially game-saving blocker save as Stridh steamrolled down the slot.
And with 2.4 seconds left, Czechia's Vera Stastkova took one final penalty, for delay of game. With the 6-on-4 advantage, the Swedes won the draw and got the puck to the net, but time expired to set off the Czech celebration.
"I was nervous at the end, but the way we stayed as a team was important," said Jebouskova. "We were not going to let another goal in. We had too many penalties, but we killed them, which was awesome."
Sweden outshot Czechia 14-0 in the final frame, for a final total of 38-25 in favour of the Swedes.
After Czechia beat Sweden 2-1 to claim bronze in 2025, Sunday's game was the 15th meeting of all time between the two sides at the WW18 level. The Swedes’ edge has now been narrowed to 8-7 in head-to-head competition.
With the win, Czechia now holds one silver and four bronze medals in the 18-year history of the U18 women’s world championship. The Czechs join the United States and Canada (all 18 years, including 2026) as the only other team with an active medal streak of three years or more.
Sweden remains third on the all-time medal chart, with two silvers and five bronzes, but hasn’t reached the podium since 2022.
Canada and the U.S. are both guaranteed to take home medals later on Sunday — the only question is who gets which colour. They’ll play for gold and silver in the late game at Centre 200 in Sydney (19:30 local time).
