Netherlands effective in the physical match against Slovakia

The Netherlands were far more effective than the Slovakians in the B-divisions first match and could win the physical match with 6-2.

Annemiek Stegehuis scored two goals in a row in the first period, which took the Dutch team to a 3-1 lead.

Slovakia´s Denisa Bystricka  reduced the lead to one goal in the 2nd period and the Slovakians also had many brilliant chances, one shot hitting the post and another ball only stopped by the Dutch defender just before bouncing into the empty net.

Sita Veburg in Netherland´s goal did an excellent job today and as the Dutch players were much sharper in finishing their attacks they could take their first WFC victory.

The defender, Anna Kijlstra, was the most effective player of team Netherlands with three assists and the Dutch goalkeeper Sita Veburg was elected as best player.

Lucia Kosturiakova (pictured) was elected as the best player of Slovakia.

Poland fought against the Swiss for one period

In the first A-division match, the B group favourite, Switzerland could crush the 10th ranked Poland with 9-1 although the first period was only 2-1 for Switzerland.

Switzerland were the clear favourites in the first match, but the Polish players were not backing down in the defence.

The match was tight for the first 20 minutes but then the Swiss defenders, led by Simone Berner (pictured) stepped up. In addition to Berner also other defenders were effective and scored five of  Switzerland´s nine goals. Both Berner and Andrea Hofstetter scored two goals and also Sabrina Arpagaus found the net once. Arpagaus was elected as Switzerland´s best player.

Finland started with clear victory

The second match in group B was played between Finland and Russia. Finland took charge of the match from the beginning and the strong first period secured the 7-1 victory.

The Finnish team pressed hard when the Russians possessed the ball and this resulted in goals already in the first two minutes, when the Finns scored twice. Finland had the 5-0 lead after the first period, but after that they lowered the tempo and only concentrated on controlling the ball. Finland had a wide range of goal scorers as only Kati Salminen scored two goals.

The Finnish Head coach Matti Kaipio was pleased after the first match.
– “The match proceeded according to the game plan. We had emphasized the importance of the start of the match and the players fulfilled the expectations well.”

Singapore defeated Italy – 4 goals for Jill Quek

The B-division battle between Singapore and Italy was settled in the second period. The Asian team had a 3-1 lead after the first period and the seven goals in the second period decided the match. The final score was 11-5 to Singapore.

Singapore played in the A-division in the previous WFC, while Italy proceeded from the qualifications. This was evident in the level of the game, the Singaporeans were able to play more as a team and they also built more controlled attacks.

As Singapore controlled the ball, Italy was able to create their most dangerous situations from the counter attacks.

The Singaporean star player Jill Quek scored four goals and couple of them were shot with impressive one-timer slap shots. Also Pui Ling Cheong was very effective in the match with 2+4. The most effective player in the Italian team was Barbara Gruber who scored a hat trick.

Dahlerus new record holder in amount of Women´s WFC goals

Over 1650 spectators were gathered in the Bombardier Arena and could enjoy a lot of nicely executed goals when the Swedish team outplayed Norway with 17-3.

Hermine Dahlerus (pictured) scored two goals in the match and is now the new record holder in the amount of WFC goals. Dahlerus has now scored 31 goals, which is one more than Johanna Ekeroth and has the same amount of points as Ekeroth with 45 points. Dahlerus has now collected 31 + 14 in seven World Championships.

All the Women´s World Championships records from 1997 – 2007 are found on here (on www.floorball.org under IFF Events and Records in IFF events).

The Swedish team started with a very high intensity and it soon became clear that the Norwegians were not able to follow team Sweden´s tempo.

When Sweden fore checked very aggressively this stressed the Norwegians and they were not able to find their own players with their opening passes. This resulted in a number of brilliant scoring opportunities and goals for Sweden. After Sweden´s 6-0 goal Norway changed the goalie, but the Swedish command continued throughout the match.

A total of 11 different Swedish players scored goals tonight, which proves that there is a lot of depth and skill in Sweden´s roster. Many of the goals were scored by defenders, which was appreciated by the Swedish head coach, Jan-Erik Vaara:

– “Our forwards are able to play with such high speed that it makes our opponents back down in their defence and our defenders then have the possibility to get to good scoring sectors if they take the initiative. We are privileged to have the capacity in the defence to play this way and it is important for our game,” Vaara says in Swedish Floorball Federation´s interview.

Estonia´s first World Championships match ended in a victory

Estonia (ranked 19th) made it to the Championships from the Qualification and their young and technical team could defeat team Japan that was ranked 16th before the tournament. The final numbers were very impressive, 11-0  for Estonia.

Merli Kaljuve scored four goals for Estonia and was awarded as best player.

Despite difficult starts, victories for Czech Republic and Germany

Both North-American teams were able to stay in the game for half of the match in the evening games. In the A-division Czech Republic beated USA 12-3 and in the B-division Germany won Canada 7-2.

The match between Czech Republic and USA started off by the Czechs controlling and moving the ball, looking for the best shooting angels. The well organised American defense tried to direct the opponents to the corners and block as much shots as possible. This paid off well in the first period even though the Czechs took a 2-0 lead. The Americans were able to equalize the lead, but then they let in an easy goal in the end of the first period.  Samantha Rush still gave USA some hope in beginning of the second period, by scoring 3-3.

Bit by bit USA looked more tired and started to lose focus, giving the Czechs more space to play the ball. This forced the Americans to defend and rely on counter attacks.

The Czechs took the lead again when Kristyna Jilková completed her hat trick with two goals in the second period. The strong second period settled the match for Czechs and finally they won the match with nine goals.

In the last B-division match Canada defensive game plan worked the first period. In the second period Germany increased the lead to 6-1 with two power play goals and the match was decided. Juliane Hoffmann scored two goals for Germany.