Switzerland took 2nd victory after a tough match

An excellent start again by the Slovakians but when the Swiss team increased the tempo in the 2nd period the Slovakians had a hard time. Three goals for Flurina Marti when Switzerland took their second victory in the tournament against Slovakia with 5-2.

Slovakia´s disciplined defensive play continued to produce good results for the team and the Swiss had a tough time when trying to get into the best scoring sectors. The defender Marianne Gämperli was however able to surprise the Slovakian goalie with a nice long distance shot after 14 minutes of play. Before the end of the 1st period Slovakia evened the score when Klaudia Valjentova was left without guard after a counter attack.

Switzerland started more aggressively the 2nd period and it was Flurina Marti (pictured) that stepped up from the Swiss team. Marti´s excellent wrist shot found the net three times the last goal being a power play goal.

Slovakia got better into the game in the final period and when Katarina Behancová reduced the Swiss lead to two goals and the match got interesting. The rest of the match was quite even and Slovakia had some really good scoring opportunitie
s, but two minutes before the end of the match Corin Rüttimann set the final numbers to 5-2.

Marti (3+0) and Valjentova (1+1) were awarded as best players.

The best player of Slovakia, Klaudia Valjentova, was quite happy after the match despite the loss:
– We did not expect that we could play this good against such a strong opponent. We tried to play as a team and did quite well even though the Swiss team was better than us. I also think that my game was quite good but I feel that I can still be better. I am very happy to receive the best player award.

Next up for Slovakia is Poland tomorrow in the late evening match 19.45:
– I do not know much about the opponent, but we really want to win the match against Poland tomorrow.

Sweden crushed Latvia – 1st victory for Germany

The ball was only played on one side of the field in the Sweden – Latvia match. The match was over already after five minutes when Sweden had taken the 3-0 lead. The final numbers were crushing,31-0 to Sweden.

Germany had a tougher time against the newcomer, Austria. for over 30 minutes until Germany could push themselves into the lead and in the end took clear win with 10-3.

When Sweden and Finland evened the score yesterday the goals scored in the tournament can become decisive for the placement in group B and Sweden continued to press the Latvians for 60 minutes.

Cassandra Edberg (pictured) scored the first hat trick within ten minutes and then the Lindgren sisters, Frida followed by Hanna who could score three goals. Indra Bekere had a great chance to score the opening goal for Latvia but her penalty shot hit the post. Latvia had no chance today against the much stronger Swedes.

Edberg 6+3 was awarded as best player.
– I have never scored six goals in one match, it was really fun! Our group is probably decided by the goal difference so we decided do give everything and we used our chances well, Edberg told to Innebandy.se.

Austria fought for two periods against Germany

Austria had recovered from their loss against Russia and had a great start in the match against of Germany. First Alexandra Kemptner took Austria to the lead on power play and then Sabine Hödl increased the lead to 2-0 before the end of the 1st period.

Pauline Baumgarten scored the first goal for Germany and the Germans took more and more control of the match. In 33.40 Larissa Engel took Germany into the lead for the first time and finally the Germans could win the match with clear numbers.

Maria Voigt (1+3) and Pauline Baumgarten (2+2) were the most effective players for Germany. German player Frederike Scholz and Austrian Alexandra Kemptner were awarded as the best players of the match.

Sharp start secured Semi-final spot for Czech Republic

Czech Republic had an amazing start to the match against Poland. When six minutes were played, the match was already 4-0 for the home team. After this there was no doubt about the winner and in the end the final score was 10-2 for Czech Republic. This also means that Switzerland and Czech Republic will advance to the Semi-finals from group A.

In the previuos U19 WFC Poland won Czech Republic in the group match and dropped the Czechs out of the playoffs. Maybe the home team had that still in mind when they came to today´s match against Poland. The Czech team started the match aggressively with a lot of fighting spirit and this resulted in goals.

First Tereza Urbánková shot two goals in 17 seconds and only 24 seconds later Tamara Hasova increased the Czech lead already to 3-0. When Adela Bocanova placed the ball to the net from on-timer after a nice pass from Simona Kabeláková, it looked like the match is over. In the end of the first period also Poland succeeded to score, after a struggle of the Czech defence Natalia Witak had an easy job to place the ball to the empty net.

As the match progressed, Poland improved their game and the Czechs were not able to get to the best scoring sectors that often. Poland was also able to create better scoring chances than in the 1st period, but the only goals of the 2nd period was scored by Czech Republic who increased the lead to 6-1.

In the third period the Czech team took again a better grip of the match and treated the 525 noisy spectators with goals. The Czechs scored four goals and took the 2nd victory in the tournament with result 10-2.

Tereza Urbánková (picutred), who shot first two goals for Czech Republic, was pleased after the match.
– We had a great start and the first three minutes secured the victory for our team. As a team we didn´t do anything unusual in the preparation, but I had taken care of the recovery so enough sugar, massage and good mental preparation made it possible to be sharp already in the beginning.

Since Czech Republic and Switzerland have both collected 4 points in group A, it is already clear that they will advance to the Semi-finals. The winner of group A will be decided in a match between these two nations tomorrow at 17:00.

Urbánková is looking for a tough match against Switzerland.
– I expect that we will play as well as today. Against Switzerland we will need to focus more to the defence than in the two previous matches where the focus has been in the offence play. We want to win and take the first place of the group.

Victory for Hungary with power play goals

Hungary and Russia both won their first matches of the tournament yesterday. Today the countries met in the B-division evening match. Hungary took command of the match already in the beginning and was able to keep Russia behind all the way to the end as the match ended 9-4. Russian players took nine penalties in the match so totally they played almost one period short handed. Hungary was able to score four power play goals which facilitated their way to the victory.

The most effective players of the match for Hungary were Veronika Szarvas who shot totally four goals and Vivien Jetzin who collected 2+2. Marina Naletova shot two goals for Russia. Szarvas and Dina Sidekova were awarded as the best players of the match.

Finland took 1st victory by winning over Norway

Finland was able to take their first victory in the tournament in a match against Norway. The Finns were the more skillful team in the field and were able to dominate the ball most of the match. The final result of the match was 7-1.

The Finns took the charge of the match already in the beginning as they scored twice when approximately five minutes were played. The Norwegian team concentrated on the defence and most of the time was able to block the shots and keep the Finnish forwards out of the best scoring sector. Time to time Finland was however able to pass Norwegian goalkeeper and after two periods the score was 5-0 to Finland. The 5-0 goal was scored by Laura Rantanen from rebound and it completed her hat trick already in the second period.

There were some penalties in the third period and also two power play goals were seen. In the beginning of the period Mira Wickman shot her third in the match on power play. In the last minute also Norway got a power play and Lene Amundsen was able to pass the Finnish goalkeeper.

Laura Rantanen (pictured) worked hard in the field and was able to score three goals for Finland.
– I am pleased with the match. I think all our lines performed well and were able to move the ball fast enough. Still I think we can raise our level as the tournament progresses.

Tomorrow Finland will meet Latvia in the last group match. Rantanen is looking forward to the match.
– I have never played against Latvia so I don´t really know what to expect. However, it is clear for us that we want to win the match and we are willing to work for the victory.