It was a sea of red and white on the ice and in the stands at the Sport and Wellness Centre in Membertou, Nova Scotia as Canada started its gold-medal defense at the 2026 U18 Women’s World Championship with a convincing 9-0 win over Switzerland to close out Day 1 of round-robin action.

Eight different scorers found the back of the net for the Canadians, who are now 6-0 all-time against Switzerland at this level. Alida Korte led the way offensively with two goals and was named Canada's best player of the game. Alicia Fausch was named best player for Switzerland.

Playing in her fourth U18s, Swiss defender Laure Meriguet brought a veteran's perspective to the contest at just 17 years old.

"We knew it would be a tough game, but we had to enjoy the experience," she said. "For some players, this is a dream to play Canada. We need to play simple. Some players asked me about playing Canada, and I told them it's difficult, but it's a game."

Korte and Rachel Piggott (1-2-3) each had three points for Canada, while five players had two-point nights. Adrianna Milani, Laurie Aubin and Kendall Doiron each had a goal and an assist, while defenders Katie Viel and Avery Jones logged two assists each.

"We've been working on our habits, and I thought we came out and did those well," Korte said. "We did the little things right and prepared well."

In net, both teams went with fresh faces who made their U18 national team debuts. Lea-Rose Charrois went the distance for Canada, earning a shutout in her debut with 11 saves.

"It was such an honour to play my first game," Charrois said. "I was so happy and excited. I had to work on my communication with the defence and my position in the net."

For the Swiss, Anne-Eugenie Gendre was replaced by Norina Schrupkowski after giving up four goals on 13 shots through the first 12:08 of the game. Schrupkowski allowed five goals on 38 shots over the final 47:52.

Following the tournament's official opening ceremony, the Canadians set off the evening’s first spin of Great Big Sea’s ‘Heave Away’ at the 2:57 mark of the first period. But a long-range shot was deemed to be no goal due to goaltender interference. Less than five minutes later, Piggott scored the first goal that counted. She coolly converted a pinpoint pass in the prime shooting area after Korte outmuscled two Swiss players to gain the offensive zone while keeping control of the puck.

At 9:57, Caileigh Tiller followed up on the power play. Then Sofia Ismael and Canada’s captain Hayley McDonald got on the board before Gendre made way for Schrupkowski.

Doiron rounded out the first-period scoring, where Canada outshot Switzerland 20-3.

In the second, the Swiss successfully killed an early penalty, but Canada added two more goals. Milani found an unguarded Aubin in the slot to make it 6-0 at 5:29, then Korte came in with speed before beating Schrupkowski at the midpoint of the game.

In the third, Milani got her first goal from one knee at the right face-off dot as Canada reached 40 shots on goal, and Korte logged her second of the night.

Canadian coach Vicky Sunohara was pleased with aspects of her team's performance, but sees room for improvement as the tournament progresses.

"Switzerland started out really strong, but we settled into the game pretty quickly," she said. "Not the greatest of starts for us, though. We're really focusing own ourselves and little things, trying to get used to people we haven't played with. It took us a bit, but we saw some good habits. We have to do that for sixty minutes, and we didn't do that tonight."

With the win, Canada joins Sweden at the top of the Group A standings. After a day off, Switzerland will meet the Swedes in the early game on Monday, before Canada plays Hungary.