First match for Hungary ended in an easy victory

The 3rd ranked team of the B-division, Hungary, was far better organised than their opponents, the 16th ranked team Japan, and the Hungarians won their first WFC match with 8-0.

It took only 23 seconds for Nicole Vértesi Hungary to score the first goal. The Japanese game plan seemed to rely on blocking the shots and passes in order to create counter attacks. The physical Hungarian players could however stop the Japanese attacks through efficient back-checking and Hungary´s Szilvia Sári had quite an easy game in the goal as she only had to make seven saves.

Brigitta Radácsi scored two goals for Hungary and Anna Harmat collected 1+2 and was awarded as best player.

Denmark no match for Switzerland

Switzerland´s passing play, the speed and accuracy of the passes, was too much for the Danish team and the Danes were not able to stress the Swiss, who created one brilliant scoring opportunity after another.

The finals score was 15-3 for the Swiss.

All Swiss offensive lines performed well and they had 11 different goal scorers. Natalie Stadelmann scored three goals and gave one assist and Mirca Anderegg with 2 + 2 was awarded as best player.

Estonia and Germany tied points after an exciting match

There were lot of excitement in the afternoon matches on Bombardier Arena. The B-division match Estonia vs. Germany ended 3-3 with a last minute equalizer. In the A-division Russia took a tight victory over Poland with 2-1.

The B-division match between Estonia and Germany was divided into two phases. Germany dominated the first two periods and it looked like the favourite of the B-division would take another victory. Juliane Hoffmann scored two goals and Germany had a 3-1 lead before after two periods.

The tables were turned in the third period. As the Germans game became more passive, it was Estonia who took the ball control. Germany got three penalties in the third period and also this gave the advantage to Estonia.

Estonia was eager to tie the match, but German defenders were able to block most of the shots. Also lot of the Estonian shots went wide.

In the last minutes it was Merli Kaljuve who stepped up and started to score for Estonia. First she reduced the lead with nice wrist shot and in the last minute she equalized the match after a free hit, when Estonia was playing without goalie.

Estonian Head coach Risto Lall felt that his team improved their game during the match.
– “The first two periods we were not aggressive enough. Maybe the girls were a bit too exited to play against tough opponent. However, in the third period our game started rolling and we were able to produce the equalizer.”

Tight victory for Russia over Poland

Russia and Poland played an intensive match in the A-division. The importance of the match was seen in the defensive play, both teams defended their goal with enthuasism.

Russia was the first team to score. In the end of the first period they took the lead with a goal shot by Marina Boldysheva.

Russia started the second period effectively when Oxana Matveeva scored 2-0 already in the first minute of the period. The only goal for Poland was scored by Adrianna Kwiecinska in the second period. Both teams had their chances to decide the match in the third period, but despite the good possibilities, no more goals were seen. In the end Poland tried to equalize the match without goalie, but Nadezda Lapina in the Russian goal saved all the shots and secured the victory for Russia.

Lindström scored new WFC single match records

Sweden crushed their opponent, team USA with 28-1 and Emelie Lindström (pictured) scored new records in the number of WFC goals and points in one single WFC match. The Australians could win over Netherlands with 6-2 in their first WFC match, which was tight for two periods.

Sweden did not lend the ball to their opponents at all and it was only a question of how big the numbers were going to get. USA could keep their goal clean for five minutes, but then Sweden scored three goals within 50 seconds and this was the start of a goal party.

Lindström scored 10 goals (10 + 2) and was awarded as best player. She is now the new WFC single match record holder in the amount of goals and points. The previous goal record was from 2003 when Jonna Kettunen scored seven goals against Russia when Finland won with 15-0. The previous record in points was eight points scored by several players.

Lindström was of course very happy after the match.
– I had a lot of open goal chances so it was difficult to miss. It is always fun to score a lot of goals, but this is not yet the time to play the best game. I hope that the good performance will continue, says Lindström in innebandy.se interview.

Sweden will meet a the Czechs in their next match, a TV match on Monday and this match is surely going to be tougher.

Australia celebrated victory in first WFC match

Australia (ranked 15th) began their WFC tournament with a victory over the Netherlands ranked one spot higher.

The match was quite entertaining with the game moving from one end to the other. The Australian team was leading with two goals twice in the first period, but the Dutch were able to reduce the lead.

Australia´s Jill Roberts was involved in both good and bad. She scored the most points with two goals and two assists, but also took a 5 minutes penalty in the second period. The Australian´s could however kill the penalty, which gave Aussies more confidence.

Australia was leading with 4-2 when going into the final period and increased the lead with two more goals in the third period.

Melanie Cathie (AUS) and Maartje Schokker (NED) were elected as best players.

Czech Republic took very important points

The match between Latvia and Czech Republic was expected to be a tough one for both teams due to the importance of the match. The teams are currently ranked 4th (LAT) and 5th (CZE) and are both aiming for the semi-finals. In the end it was Czech Republic that won the match with a two goal victory, 7-5.

Latvia started the match by creating lots of good scoring chances. It was however Czech Republic that scored the first goals and took an early 3-0 lead.

Latvia came back to the match with a successful penalty shot executed by Edite Bankava. Then Czech Republic was able to take the three goal lead again, but was unable to sustain it.

Czech Republic controlled the ball, while Latvia concentrated more on defending and counter attacks. In the end of the second period the tactic paid off as Diana Isjomina scored two goals and reduced the Czech lead to 6-5.

The breaking point of the match was seen in the end of the intense third period. First Latvia had a bar shot during a power play, but right after that Eliska Krízová broke free and after an offence, a penalty shot was given. Kristýna Jílková placed the ball nicely to the right top corner and secured the victory for Czech Republic.

First victory to Slovakia

In Sunday´s last B-division match Slovakia took an easy victory over Italy, the final result was 9-2. Slovakia started the match sharply as Lucia Kostuarikova scored the first goal already after 16 seconds. The match was decided in the end of the third period, when Slovakia scored three goals in four minutes. The most effective player of the match was Denisa Ferencikova who produced 1+3.