Australia took a quite surprising victory in the B-division semi-final, when they beat Germany 2-1 after a tight match. In the B-division Final Australia will meet Hungary, the match will start 21:00 in the ABB Arena tomorrow.
Both teams played very disciplined defence in the second B-division semi-final. The pace in the game was quite fast, but the teams had trouble to get into the best scoring sectors.
Fiona Wainwright scored the first goal for Australia. Aussies also got a good chance to increase the lead with a penalty shot, but Stacey Wallace missed the opportunity.
The tight defensive play continued and there were no goals scored in the second period. With five minutes left in the match, Germany took the goalie out, aiming to even the score. This did not succeed as it was Jemima Kanerva who took advantage of the situation and scored an empty net goal. Germany could reduce the lead with one goal with 50 seconds left of the game when Magdalena Tauchlitz directed the ball in to the net, but Australia came out as the winner.
Australia has improved their performance a lot from the last Championships, when they have been placed 15th (2007 & 2005) and are now fighting for the B-division victory and a direct spot in the WFC 2011. Team Australia´s coach Jürg Kihm saw that this is the result of continuous and hard work.
– We have trained and worked hard and changed the way of training by using a totally different approach. We have also concentrated on the mental approach and gone through different scenarios with the players in advance of the Championships. For us it is also important to have fun and enjoy the game.
– The victory today feels amazing, we have players who have played in many championships already and experienced tough losses, but today we did it.
Kihm felt that the defensive play made the difference today.
– Our defence was the key to success. We have been focusing on the defensive play during the tournament and during the last six years actually. This victory makes us hungry for more and now we have nothing to lose.
