Great Britain hit Slovenia for eight to boost medal hopes, Italy claimed gold and Latvia overcame Kazakhstan in a wild encounter.
“As a team, we played well, we stuck to the structure. We dropped off at some points but picked it back up. Kept the third forward high in the third period which played a part in Slovenia not scoring.”
“It’s a huge step up [playing on the first line]. I got given my role and then it’s just doing as the coach wants, being where I need to be when I need to be there. It’s good to play with two top players in Louise [Adams] and Katie [Marsden].”
“Nic [Nicole Jackson] was outstanding. She really saved us in that first period and set us up going forward [to get the win].”
On how to get a result against Italy: “We just need to work hard and stick to our systems. Honestly, just work together as a team and I think we should be good.” – Ruby Newlands (all quotes).
Great Britain 8-2 Slovenia
Great Britain dispelled any relegation fears with a huge margin of victory which put them in pole position to win a medal. Despite the lop-sided scoreline, Nicole Jackson had to be brilliant between the pipes, whilst Ruby Newlands excelled at the other end of the ice.
FIRST PERIOD
Great Britain relied a little too heavily on Nicole Jackson in the opening frame.
With Slovenia on the power play inside the opening minute, made Jackson two excellent saves including robbery to deny Pia Pren and Louise Adams laid her body on the line to keep the bottom-ranked nation off the board.
Great Britain took time to find their grove and didn’t challenge the netminder until the five-minute mark. Good work down low resulted in a manic scramble in the crease but no one wearing blue could convince the puck the cross the goal line.
Ruby Newlands attempted to take matters into her own hands with an individual effort cutting across the slot but her backhand effort was denied.
Nicole Jackson stepped up to the plate once more with another big save and was equally excellent on the penalty kill which followed. The netminder made two huge saves and Lucy Beal produced a shot block to deny Slovenia a go-ahead goal.
It was Newlands who inevitably made the breakthrough with another surging drive to the net. The eventual shot appeared to take a deflection off a leg in front but they all count just the same.
Nicole Jackson produced one more moment of brilliance to rob Julija Blazinsek from the slot with two minutes remaining as the hosts clung to a 1-0 lead.
SECOND PERIOD
Great Britain were made to pay for another poor start to a period.
Nicole Jackson again robbed Blazinsek following a turnover but less than ninety seconds in the game was tied.
GB simply didn’t react quickly enough and Casey Trail was caught off guard as Sara Confedenti escaped on a breakaway. She is comfortably one of Slovenia’s best players and delivered with a perfect move and top-shelf backhand finish past Nicole Jackson.
It didn’t take long for the hosts to regain composure.
A two-goal blast in 39 seconds reestablished the equilibrium and allowed the home fans to breathe a little easier.
Kathryn Marsden slotted home an inch-perfect feed from Newlands and Casey Traill unloaded a bomb of a point shot to give Great Britain a 3-1 lead.
Slovenia called a timeout after conceding two quick goals but it made little difference.
Jodie Alderson-Smith struck the crossbar on a feed from Marsden and the latter hit the post in the dying seconds of a power play.
Seconds after the skater advantage had expired Robin Mullen struck to score her first GB goal.
Slovenia threatened late in the frame to draw within two.
Nicole Jackson stepped up to stonewall the impressive Blazinsek on two occasions.
THIRD PERIOD
Slovenia pounced on another sleepy start from the hosts to score inside two minutes. After making so many good saves Nicole Jackson was disappointed to give up a rebound on an initial shot, allowing Confidenti to strike for the second time in the game.
Arwen Nylaander conspired to wire a shot wide from the slot sixty seconds later and that’s as close as Slovenia would come to being competitive in this game.
A minute later, Chamonix Jackson bundled the puck home to make it 5-2 and was followed by one of the strangest goals I’ve seen live in person.
Alderson-Smith was intent on dumping the puck from just inside the Slovenia line with her team on a change. The puck hit a Slovenian opponent and went way up into the sky, almost hitting the rafters before dropping toward the visitor’s net. The netminder stood and watched as a defender attempted to bat away the puck but only appeared to help ease the puck across the goal line.
The nicest goal of the game was a beautiful tic-tac-toe play from the top line.
Newlands to Marsden and Louise Adams applied the definitive touch to the delight of a sizeable Sunday evening crowd.
Rachel Cartwright rounded off proceedings with the eighth and final goal to secure tier-three status for next year.
POSTGAME NOTES
Sean Alderson kept the same line-up and bar the slow starts to each period, it was a fairly emphatic performance.
Nicole Jackson showed her class with a 21-save performance that belies how well she had to play in the first period and the importance of timely saves at critical moments.
A three-point haul for Ruby Newlands included a first World Championship goal. Newlands looked highly effective every time she jumped over the bench and could easily have finished with a couple more points.
Great Britain has medal aspirations on the final day of the tournament. Much will hinge on the result of Korea v Latvia who play earlier in the day.
A regulation or overtime loss for Korea guarantees GB a Bronze medal, but no chance of winning silver.
An overtime win for Korea means GB must not lose in regulation against Italy to earn a Bronze medal, but no chance of winning Silver regardless of how many points are earned.
A regulation win for Korea means GB has to win in overtime to secure a Bronze medal, but a regulation win would see them win Silver.
Line-up
Marsden – Adams – Newlands
Alderson/Smith – Horwood – C. Jackson
Lamberton – Mullen – Headland
Cartwright – Wallace – Culshaw
Wakeling – Rees
Hill – Sylvester
Beal – Trail
Needham/Potts
N.Jackson/Howard
Italy 7-0 Korea Day
Italy secured a gold medal and promotion with arguably their best performance of the tournament thus far.
FIRST PERIOD
As they’ve done all week, Italy began on the front foot, putting immediate pressure on their opponents.
The opening two minutes were spent in the Korean zone and the tournament favourites scored the first goal.
It came about in a somewhat farcical fashion.
A rising shot from BEDONT Maddalena Bedont crashed off the underside of the crossbar but the goallight didn’t appear to be switched on and play continued. Italy created two further chances before the next whistle.
A consultation between the officials and the goal judge ensued and the end result was a good goal!
Korea threatened from the restart but Martina Fedel made the diving stop required.
Italy took back control and continued to probe the Korean defence without immediate success.
Korea’s resistance was broken with seven minutes remaining as Kristen Guerriero rifled home from the top of the circles.
Korea again threatened at the restart after conceding thanks to a giveaway but Jiyoon Park was denied by a glove save.
The dagger to the hearts of the Korean team was delivered with 18 seconds left.
The ultra-impressive Matilde Fantin connected on Kayla Tutino’s feed from below the goal line and slammed home from the slot.
SECOND PERIOD
Italy were sumptuous in the middle frame, picking their moments to pick Korea apart as they doubled their three-goal lead.
The best goal of the bunch arrived at the eight-minute mark.
Anna Caumo, Kristen Della Rovere and Aurora Abatangelo combined with the latter providing the deft chipped finish to cap a beautiful passing move.
Italy waited until the last three minutes to score twice in succession.
Manuela Heidenberger surged down the right side before firing top shelf past the Korean netminder.
At that point, the beleaguered top seeds switched goalies. It was to no avail as Italy scored on the next shot.
Eleonora Bonafini rifled a shot into the far corner of the net from the left circle.
THIRD PERIOD
The final frame was a clinical exhibition from Italy with some tricks in between. Italy enetrained the crowd with some offensive brilliance including trying the Michigan on two occasions though sadly neither came off.
Amie Varano capped off the scoring with a perfectly placed shot as the trailer on the play as Italy hit Korea for a sweet seven.
It was a performance of champions and Italy will be congratulated by all on Tuesday when their promotion is officially confirmed.
Latvia 7-3 Kazakhstan
Two nations with different aspirations produced a game full of drama and swings in momentum.
Kazakhstan was looking for two points to secure their status whilst Latvia wanted to cement their position as favourites to win the silver medal..
FIRST PERIOD
The opening period was a low-event affair and the only Grade-A chances generated were for Latvia.
Hanna Strauss struck inside two minutes for the second-placed team after Latvia had conspired not to score with a better chance in thirty seconds.
There was little in the way of excitement until the fine five minutes when Agnese Apsite was robbed from the slot. The respite lasted all of two minutes.
Liga Miljone struck to give her nation a 2-0 lead heading into the first intermission.
SECOND PERIOD
For whatever reason, Latvia decided the game was done and proceeded to throw away their two-goal lead.
Munira Sayakhatkyzy, Madina Tursynova and Sofiya Zubkova struck in five minutes as Kazakhstan took a shock lead at the midway point.
Latvia took three minutes to respond but scored a beautiful goal to tie the game.
A delightful reverse pass by Miljone through the slot found Krista Nicole Yip-Chuck who scored at the far post.
THIRD PERIOD
There was a raft of penalties to start the final frame and Latvia completely dominated the special teams battle.
Yip-Chuck scored a short-handed tally to give Latvia the lead and three minutes later Anna Lagzdina struck on the power play. Suddenly the second-place nation was in complete control once more.
There was no letting the foot off the gas on this occasion as two further goals just three minutes apart sealed the victory.
Silajane netted at 5v5 and Miljone scored her second of the game on the power play to wrap up a 7-3 victory.
If you have enjoyed this article, please consider supporting my work in the links below. No donation is too small, even if it’s just the cost of a coffee. It would be much appreciated. Thank you
UK Hockey Blog 