Shannon Coulter
GAME NOTES: CANADA VS. CZECHIA (JAN. 7)
Canada’s National Women's Under-18 Team is back on the ice, looking to build on a tournament-opener win against Germany when its faces Czechia at Bossard Arena as the IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship continues.
Last Game
What a start to the tournament for Canada, shutting out Germany 11-0 in its prelim opener. Fifteen players found the score sheet, including a five-point performance by Chloe Primerano and a hat trick by Sienna D’Alessandro. Morgan Jackson and Caitlin Kraemer scored twice, with Claire Murdoch and Charlotte Pieckenhagen rounding out the scoring. Hannah Clark made four saves for the shutout.
Czechia fell 3-2 to Finland in the tournament opener Saturday. The Czechs took an early 2-0 lead thanks to two goals by Adela Sapovaliova, but an Emma Ekoluoma hat trick gave the Finns a come-from-behind win. Aneta Senkova made 17 saves for Czechia.
Last Meeting
Let’s go back to the quarterfinals in 2018 for the last game between these two teams, with Canada recording a 3-1 win in Dmitrov, Russia. Courtney Correia, Willow Slobodzian and Courtnery Kollman scored over a span of nine minutes in the second period. Adela Skrdlova got one back for the Czechs early in the third, but Madelyn McArthur made 15 saves to lead Canada to the semifinals.
What to Watch
How about Sienna D’Alessandro? The Pointe-Claire, Quebec, native only needed 21 minutes to record her hat trick against Germany. On the blue line, Chloe Primerano had a breakout performance in her first U18 Women’s Worlds game; the North Vancouver, B.C., product had five points (2-3—5) against the Germans—that tied the Canadian record for most points by a defender in a single game, set by Laura Fortino in 2008.
Although Czechia has not won a medal at this tournament since 2014, there are two world championship medal holders on its roster. Adela Sapovalivova and Tereza Plosova were a part of Czechia’s bronze medal team at the 2023 IIHF Women’s World Championship in Brampton, Ontario, and Sapovalivova has another bronze medal from the 2022 Women’s Worlds in Calgary, Alberta. Both players finished in the top-10 in scoring at last year’s U18 Women’s Worlds, recording six points apiece in five games.
A Look Back
Sunday marks the seventh meeting between the Canadians and Czechs at U18 Women’s Worlds and the first matchup in six years. Canada has had the edge in all six all-time matchups, only allowing four goals.
All-time record: Canada leads 6-0 Canada goals: 50 Czechia goals: 4