BRAMPTON, Ont. — Sanni Ahola delivered a 15-save shutout and five different players scored as Finland earned a 5-0 victory over Hungary on Monday at the world women’s hockey championship.
Nelli Laitinen, Jenni Hiirikoski, Jenniina Nylund, Emilia Vesa and Ronja Savolainen netted goals for Finland. Nylund, Vesa and Savolainen are in a five-way tie for first in goals at the tournament with four, alongside teammate Viivi Vainikka and Sweden’s Lina Ljungblom.
Aniko Nemeth stopped 27of-31 shots, while Zsuzsa Revesz allowed one goal on five shots in relief for Hungary.
Finland finished out preliminary play undefeated at 4-0 and atop Group B with a 26-3 goal ratio. The quarterfinals begin Thursday.
Hungary, meanwhile, plays Germany on Tuesday to finish out Group B play with hopes of breaking into the top three to earn a quarterfinal appearance. Hungary currently sits in fourth right behind Sweden, which plays France on Tuesday.
All five teams in Group A advance to the quarterfinals, while only the top three teams in Group B make it in.
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SWITZERLAND 4 JAPAN 3
BRAMPTON, Ont. — Lara Stalder scored the winner with 9:06 remaining in regulation and Switzerland squeezed out a 4-3 victory over Japan in a battle of two teams looking for their first wins.
Lara Christen, Nicole Vallario and Alina Muller had the other goals for Switzerland, which was down 2-0 early and behind 3-2 entering the third period.
Andrea Braendli made 19 saves in the win.
Remi Koyama, Yoshino Enomoto and Aoi Shiga scored, while Riko Kawaguchi stopped 23-of-27 shots for Japan.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 10, 2023.
