Switzerland held its nerve in a hard-fought relegation playoff, edging Germany 2-1 to secure its place in the top division. For Germany, despite taking the lead, the 2024 Women’s U18 World Championship ends with an immediate return to Division IA.

After a goalless first period, Anna Rose gave Germany the lead on a power play goal in the 29th minute. Switzerland soon tied it up through Norina Muller and went ahead early in the third through Xenia Balzarolo.

"It was an amazing moment when I scored," said Muller. "It was my first international goal and I was very happy in that moment."

At the other end of the emotional scale, Rose admitted that defeat was hard to take. "We expected a really tight game," she said. "Every game is tough, but when it's close and we lose, it's sadder."

The Swiss are no strangers to a survival battle. Since winning promotion to the top division of Women’s U18 World Championship play in 2014, Switzerland has faced seven relegation playoffs. Twice, in 2018 and 2022, Swiss survival came at Germany’s expense. Today the Germans were looking to remain in the top division, something that hasn’t happened since the country’s first relegation in 2013.
 

For both teams, the tournament to date had been a story of hard-working defence and goaltending, coupled with limited scoring opportunities. After playing four games each, the two had just four goals between them. Nonetheless, both could point to some positives. For Switzerland, a big performance against Slovakia in the final group game brought an overtime loss saw the host nation pick up a point in Group B. Germany, meanwhile, battled bravely in its quarterfinal before falling to the USA. The 4-0 scoreline in that game was Germany’s best against the powerful Americans.

And it was Germany that fashioned the first big chance of this relegation battle. In the fourth minute, Anna Rose found some space in the deep slot and banged in an effort that Talina Benderer could only pad away. It took a swift recovery job from three defenders to clear the danger.

However, the Swiss posed the more consistent threat in the opening frame and came closest to opening the scoring in the eighth minute. Jael Manetsch took the puck behind the net and looked to get it to the slot for the approaching Muller. Instead, it bounced off the back of German goalie Hannah Loist and almost snuck into the net. The officials reviewed the play carefully before confirming that the puck did not completely cross the line.

The breakthrough came midway through the second period. On 28:08, Switzerland took the first penalty of the game, a too many players call. Germany, not blessed with many power play chances in this tournament, seized the moment. #11 brought the puck through center ice before her diagonal feed sent Rose into the Swiss zone. With room to advance, she took up a position on the edge of the left-hand circle and snapped a wrist shot past Benderer.

Switzerland hit back fast. Ivana Wey, a frequent threat throughout this game, once again showed off her pace and technique to down the wing and fire the puck to the danger zone. The German defence was overloaded, with Naemi Herzig hassling and harrying at the back door before Muller banged in the loose puck to tie the game.  

The host nation continued to press and got ahead for the first time in the 42nd minute. It was a tough goal for Germany to take, giving away the puck with a misplaced pass in centre ice then failing to check Balzarolo’s advance. The Swiss forward took full advantage, firing a low shot through Loist’s pads to delight the home fans.

Captain Herzig was also thrilled. "I'm feeling very good," she said. "I'm just proud that we stayed in the highest division. We did a very job and it's great to finish with a win.

"Germany was a tough, tough opponent. But in the end we won. That's the main goal. I don't care how many goals we scored. All that matters is we stayed in the top division."

Needing to find a goal to salvage the game and save its top-division status, Germany redoubled its offensive efforts. For the first time in the competition, Jeff MacLeod’s players took the game to the opposition. However, despite chances for Theresa Zielinski, Hannah Hoppe and Anna Kindl there was no way past Benderer.

In the last minute, Germany called Loist to the bench and played six-on-five. MacLeod called a time-out, looking for one last push to take the game to overtime. But Switzerland held on to clinch the victory and maintain its top-flight status.

MacLeod was quick to point out the progress his players made in this competition, despite the unhappy ending. "They never lost that unbelievable attitude," he said. "As coaches, we're so happy that we had athlete that want to learn.

"They wanted to work hard, they wanted to be challenged and they accepted that. At the end, it's really hard for us to lose. But they'll carry on and they'll take this as a positive. You move forward."

His opposite number, Melanie Haefliger, was delighted to stay at the top level and already began thinking about the future. "We have to analyze this World Championship and see what we can do better, what we have to work on," she said. "But we have a lot of support from the federation and the [Swiss Women's Hockey League]. We have to build it up step by step. We know where we stand, we have both feet on the floor."