After making waves in the 2022 IIHF Women’s Development Cup by winning their first IIHF event, Colombia has successfully defended their championship win. The team defeated Argentina in the final 6-2.

Only 27 seconds into the first period, Lorena Pedraza blasted one past Argentinian goaltender Florencia Gutierrez Peydro to give the Colombians the early lead. 
 
After assisting on the first goal, Maria Uribe bolstered Colombia’s lead when she sped out from deep in the Argentinian zone and ripped one past Gutierrez Peydro into the net.

However, Argentina would cut the deficit by one halfway through the first period. While applying pressure in the Colombian zone Alma Amegeiras got the puck past Ana Munevar as she was knocked down on the play.

Colombia responded in a big way before the end of the first period as Natalia Lugo scored twice in a span of 3:40.

After a scoreless second period, Colombia added some assurance with two power-play goals by Christina Kampa and Uribe.  Rounding out the scoring in the final was Argentina’s Abril Bendenelli with a power play goal.

Bronze Medal Game

In an exciting bronze medal game, that went down to the wire, Iran defeated Ireland 3-1.

After a scoreless first period, Dina Farzamnia gave Iran the lead in the second period. Elham Modirdehghan added insurance to Iran’s lead in the third. Ireland would cut the lead and pull within one on a score by forward Kaitlyn Morrison.

With the extra attacker out after pulling goaltender Sarah McFarland, Ireland could not tie the game.  Farzamnia scored into the empty net, her second of the game to secure the bronze for Iran.

Semi-Final and Preliminary Round

Columbia punched their ticket to the gold medal game after earning an 8-1 win over Ireland in the semi-finals.  One of the highlights of this semi-final was the hat-trick effort from forward Susanna Perez. Uribe chipped in with three assists. For Ireland, Ana Capcarrere scored while Mima Markicevic added an assist.

As for Argentina, they squeaked by Iran 2-1 to gain their championship berth.  In this semi-final, Iara Haiek had a short-handed goal while Mila Lutteral got the game-winner in the second period for Argentina.  Meanwhile, Iran’s Azamossadat scored on the power play.

In the preliminary round, Colombia was atop the standings with a 3-0-0-0 record.  Argentina was next at 2-0-0-1.  Iran ended up with a 1-0-0-2 record while Ireland was 0-0-0-3.

Beyond the tournament

In its second year of the tournament, the IIHF Women’s Development Cup provides an opportunity for teams to experience worthwhile competition against other countries in a round-robin format. Currently, these four teams are not competing on the IIHF Women’s World Championship stage.

“It was great to be a part of the Development Cup and have an opportunity to play sixty-minute stop clock games against strong opposition,” Ireland alternate captain Sinead Jennings said.

For teams like Argentina, the team hopes this is a stepping stone for the future growth of their national program.
“This event is very important for Argentina Ice Hockey because we can show our level,” Dickey Haiek says. “This a great step for our girls’ national team to prepare for future tournaments.

Argentina is very interested in competing in the World Championships and qualifying for the Olympic Games.”
Beyond the ice, Ireland hopes the impact of this tournament will be far-reaching in their country - empowering women and future generations to elevate the sport.

“It is important to be a part of such an event as it promotes women in sport and unites women globally while providing a platform for the next generations to come,” said alternate captain Mima Markicevic.

“The Development Cup is important for the Irish National Team as it facilitates access to competition, ice time, and sends a message to our home nation that ice hockey is important to the people of Ireland as the sport becomes more popular amongst the masses.”

Echoing those sentiments is captain Dorinda Sinton.

"It’s important for us to enter this event to highlight ice hockey in Ireland, and promote its growth, equality, and diversity for current generations and generations to come."