BRAMPTON, Ont. — Germany booked a spot in the women’s world hockey championship quarterfinals by defeating Hungary 2-1 in its preliminary round finale Tuesday.
Hungary, with one win in four games, finishes fourth in the Group B standings, guaranteeing relegation. All five teams in Group A advance to the quarterfinals, while only the top three teams in Group B make it in.
Germany finishes second in Group B behind leaders Finland.
Defenceman Ronja Hark opened the scoring 10:34 into the game for Germany, forward Nicola Eisenschmid then doubled the lead with 35 seconds left in the first period at the CAA Centre.
Hungary’s lone goal came from Reka Dabasi 49 seconds into the second period.
Sandra Abstreiter made 36 saves to earn the win for Germany. Aniko Nemeth stopped 24 shots in the Hungary net.
SWEDEN 8 FRANCE 2
Forward Hanna Olsson had four goals and three assists in Sweden’s rout over France.
Sweden advances to the quarterfinals by placing third in the Group B standings, while France faces relegation after finishing fifth.
Olsson’s linemate Lina Ljungblom contributed two goals and three assists for Sweden.
Sweden goaltender Emma Soderberg made 22 saves in the win. French goalies Carolina Lambert and Margaux Mameri split duties, with Lambert allowing seven goals on 22 shots and Mameri turning away 25 of 26 shots.
CZECHIA 5 SWITZERLAND 2
The battle for third place in Group A was pretty one-sided as Czechia scored three first-period goals then coasted to a 4-0 victory.
Adela Sapovalivova, Michaela Pejzlova, Alena Mills, Klara Hymlarova and Tereza Pistekova scored for the Czechs, who held period leads of 3-0 and 4-0. Laskova Dominika chipped in with two assists.
Lara Stalder and Alina Muller scored for Switzerland, who were outshot 35-15.
With the win, Czechia finishes with a record of one win, one overtime win and two losses. Switzerland ended up fourth with a one-win, three-loss record. Defending champion Canada finished first in Group A, with the U-S finishing second. Japan wound up fifth.
The quarterfinals get underway Thursday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 11, 2023.
