With Russia having qualified already after day 2 of the Women´s U19 World Championships 2018 Qualification the last day was all about deciding the last team to qualify to the final round in St. Gallen/Herisau, Switzerland 2-6.5.2017.

RUSSIA – ITALY

Team Russia proved in this match how easy it is to play floorball when their is no pressure…
The match vs Italy was decided already in the first period when Russia went ahead to a 9-1 lead and it goes without saying that the match was then already decided.
The remaining part of the match was quite relaxed and friendly ending with the result 18-2.

Match statistics can be found here.

NETHERLANDS – AUSTRIA

The final match of the qualification and the prerequisites were clear – Austria needed to win whilst a draw was enough for Netherlands. Knowing this it was not difficult to understand that there were nerves all over in the first period. Cautious players from both sides and good goalkeeping kept the score at 0-0 until 57 seconds into the 2nd period when team Netherlands scored on their 10th shot in the match. The goal gave the Dutch team a lot of energy and they went into a good period where a lot of chances were produced so it was quite a shock for the Dutch when team Austria equalised after 12 minutes. At this point the match turned into an open game where the play went coast to coast. This suited team Austria who could take the lead 2-1 just four minutes later and increase the lead to 3-1 before the end of the period.
In the 3rd period almost all play was at the Austrian half with the Dutch in total control. It took until the 12th minute of the last period before team Netherlands scored their second goal. They kept on pressing but a heroic defence effort from the Austrians prevented from an equaliser. Team Austria won 3-2 and qualified to the U19 WFC 2018 final round.

Match statistics can be found here.