The penultimate day of competition at the 2024 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship Division I Group B tournament started with Italy upsetting the previously undefeated Slovak team, which was followed by important wins for Latvia and Great Britain, who sit in the silver and bronze medal positions with one day of games remaining.
Italy 3 - Slovakia 2
Italy stunned Slovakia with a late goal to take a 3-2 victory despite being outshot 42-16, Slovakia’s first loss of the tournament.
Livia Kubekova opened scoring for Slovakia 18 minutes in. With Nikola Nemcekova skating into the offensive zone with the puck on the wing, Kubekova skated hard to the net. Nemecekova’s shot resulted in a loose puck on the far post, which Kubekova tapped in.
Italy tied the game on the power play at the halfway mark. While Slovakia had possession in Italy’s end, goal scorer Anna Caumo pressured Slovakia’s defence on the blue line and got the puck on her stick, resulting in a breakaway.
Slovak captain Tatiana Korenova gave her team a 2-1 lead 30 seconds into the third period, but Italy rallied together to tie the game once again, with a turnover in Slovakia’s end giving Italy possession, eventually resulting in a goal from Greta Niccolai off a rebound.
In a wild final minute of play, Caumo secured the win for Italy. Receiving a stretch pass up ice from Laura Lobis, Caumo slipped past Slovakia’s defence, sniping the puck past Andrea Risianova. While Slovakia still remains at the top of the standings, the game gave Italy a helpful boost as they head into the final day of competition.
Great Britain 2 - Slovenia 1
Great Britain peppered Slovenia with 70 shots on net, coming away with the win despite an outstanding 68-save performance by Slovenian goalie Pia Dukaric.
After a scoreless first period, Slovenian captain Pia Pren opened scoring at 27:08. Katherine Gale tied the game just over a minute later however, fending off a Slovenian defender with one arm as she skated wide into the zone, throwing the puck on Dukaric with her backhand and then scoring off the rebound.
The game winning goal came from Great Britain captain Jodie Alderson-Smith, who scored top shelf on the power play in the third period. Great Britain spent much of the final few minutes shorthanded, but maintained their 2-1 lead to collect their second win of the tournament.
Latvia 6 - Poland 0
Goaltender Kristiana Apsite made 52 saves to secure a shutout for Latvia, a big win that shoots them up to the second spot in the standings with one day of competition remaining.
The forward line of Krista Nikole Yip-Chuck, Karina Silajane and captain Liga Miljone was also a difference maker for Latvia against Poland, being responsible for five of Latvia’s six goals.
Latvia led 1-0 after the first period thanks to a fancy forehand to backhand five-hole goal from Yip-Chuck. They doubled their lead in the second period with a power play marker from Silajane, followed by a goal from Miljone, who zig-zagged around Poland’s defence and scored on her backhand to give Latvia a 3-0 lead after two periods.
Silajane, who now leads the tournament in scoring, and Miljone each scored once more in the third period, with Anna Lagzdina also getting in on the scoring with a power play goal, a back door one-timer.