10/09/2021 – Page 4 – CanucksBanter

by Martin Merk |09 OCT 2021 IIHF

In their first-ever meeting the Spanish women’s national team scored an upset win against Kazakhstan. The Spaniards won 3-2 in shootout. Alba Gonzalo was heroic in the Spanish net with 36 saves.

“It was a great game to play. In the first period we couldn’t believe that we could be better than them but we believed in ourselves and started to play better. We were great in defence with all the bodies and didn’t allow them too many good chances,” Gonzalo said.

Even though it was the first official game in the women’s senior category between these countries, the win didn’t come entirely out of the blue.

In the U18 women’s category Spain already had a 3-1 win against Kazakhstan in 2018 – and six of those players as well as American head coach Harold Rosenholtz were on the senior team in Torre Pellice again to repeat history at senior level.

Playing a division higher, Kazakhstan entered the game as the favourite and had its chances for a win outshooting their opponent 38-13. But that didn’t seem to impress Spain too much. They continued the way they ended the game against Italy by battling hard and believing in their chances.

Although the Spaniards did not have many chances in the first period. Kazakhstan outshot their opponent 11-0 and had good opportunities especially late in the game. With four minutes left Spain needed a nice pad save from Gonzalo on a Malika Aldabergenova shot during a power play.

Two minutes later Erin McLean tried it alone against several Spanish skaters, lost the puck, had a takeaway but Gonzalo saved the shot. Also a Pernesh Ashimova breakaway attempt didn’t break the scoreless first-period tie.

The long-awaited first goal for the Kazakhs came at 6:35 of the middle frame. Roxanne Rioux skated toward the Spanish net, deked defender Elena Alvarez and lifted the puck over Gonzalo’s shoulder.

As long as the Kazakhs had to patiently wait for the lead, as short-lived was the joy about it. 14 seconds after the next face-off Spain used one of its first good opportunities to tie the game.

Vega Munoz and Haizea Fernandez de Romarategui created a 2-on-1 opportunity in front of Arina Shyokolova’s net. Munoz tried it with a shot rather than passing to the centre and found the hole high in the near corner.

The Spaniards even had the chance for more after a penalty against Rioux for boarding. A shot from Elena Ramos went through Shyokolova’s five-hole but stopped in front of the line. The Kazakh defence managed to clear the situation.

On the other side Rioux had the chance to score her second goal at 10:32. Her breakaway attempt was stopped with a hooking from Madelyn Ann Rego leading to a penalty shot for Rioux, which ended at Gonzalo’s pad.

Late in the second period the Kazakhs ran into penalty trouble with both Rioux and Anna Pyatkova in the penalty box.

A shot from ten meters by Spanish captain Elena Alvarez gave Spain the 2-1 lead at 17:14 and also ended the game for Shyokolova, who was replaced by Darya Dmitrieva.

Spain had its chances in the third period thanks to two penalties against Kazakhstan while the Kazakhs put pressure on the Spanish net with equal strength. At 11:27 they managed to put the puck behind Gonzalo. After a long shot from Munira Sayakhatkyzy, McLean was at the right spot to capitalize on the rebound and tie the game at two.

The Kazakhs continued to put pressure on the Spanish net but Gonzalo, who moved north to play for HV71 Jonkoping in the Swedish SDHL, stayed strong and made 36 saves during 65 minutes of play.

A shootout had to decide the winner of this game and it was Sofia Scilipoti with Spain’s first shot who scored the only goal in five rounds of penalty shot.

After McLean had missed with the Kazakhs’ fifth shot, the Spaniards cleared the bench and skated toward Gonzalo to celebrate the historic success.

“We are so excited. When we came here, we were not the second-best team and now this is what we are. They are better than us but today they weren’t. We won, we played hard and that’s where we are. We are Spain and we are here to stay,” Spanish captain Elena Alvarez said.

When it comes to the race for tournament win, the two points from two games were too little for Spain to finish in first place. Even if they reached the five-point mark after tomorrow’s game against Chinese Taipei, they wouldn’t be able to finish better than second, which in itself would be a success.

It will therefore remain a battle between host Italy and Kazakhstan for tournament win tomorrow and the Italians can improve their position before that game when they play Chinese Taipei tonight.

Currently Italy has three points from one game and Kazakhstan four from two.

by Derek O’Brien |09 OCT 2021 IIHF

In Poland’s bid to advance to the Final Qualification Round ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, the team is on the right path with two wins. The team’s top scorer so far is 18-year-old Wiktoria Sikorska with seven points, thanks mostly to a three-goal, three-assist performance in the opener against Turkey. She then added a fourth goal in the team’s second game against Mexico.

“I’m very happy with my performance,” said Sikorska. “I try to play with my teammates and we’ve played really well, I think. It’s really impressive how we can see the quality of the Polish national team going up all the time. We’re not stopping on any level and just staying there, but we keep trying to get better and we’re doing better.”

Sikorska is one of five teenagers on the team, which also includes 16-year-olds Julia Zielinska and Julia Lapinska and 15-year-old Magdalena Lapies.

“From the start of camp, we took many young players and Wiktoria is here because she’s very good,” said national team head coach Ivan Bednar. “She can play, as she’s shown here.”

While most players on the Polish women’s national team play for Metropolis Katowice in the European Women’s Hockey League, Sikorska is one of three players to play for clubs abroad. The others are Zielinska in Finland and Kamila Wieczorek in Switzerland.

Sikorska comes from Chorzow in southern Poland, a short 15-minute drive from the Pulaskiego Arena in Bytom, where Pre-Qualification Round 2 Group H is being played. She first left home at age 14 to play 75 km away in Karvina, Czech Republic. Then at age 17, she made a much bigger move to Sweden to play for Goteborg HC in the SDHL, which is considered by many to be the top women’s league in Europe. She’s now in her second year there.

“Going to Sweden has been one of the best decisions of my life,” said Sikorska. “It’s made me much more confident on the ice. I’m not scared of playing the puck or trying to do something new, and that’s helped me with the national team.”

Sikorska played in three U18 World Championships in Divsion IB, serving as the Polish team captain in the last two. She led the 2019 edition with 10 points and was named the tournament’s Best Forward. That year, at age 16, she also played in her first senior Women’s World Championship, also Divsion IB, where she scored one goal in five games. She has since become a more prominent player on the team.

“Everyone here is more professional,” she said about the senior women’s game. “We also go for bigger things. At the U18 level, there’s only the World Championship but with the senior team we’re always preparing for something, like Olympic Qualifying, and we get a chance to meet so many more teams of different levels.”

Both Poland and the Netherlands have won their first two games, setting up a game on Sunday where the winner advances to the Final Qualification Round, which will be played in November. The Dutch are the higher-ranked team and have gotten the better of Poland in the past, but the Poles have home-ice advantage and an anticipated large crowd of fans on their side.

“We have to watch out for all of them because they’re really physical,” said Sikorska. “When we played them last time, they were more physical than us, but we’re playing much better now than we were then, and I don’t think it will go as well for them this time.”

After the end of the tournament, Sikorska has one day off to spend at home with her parents and brother before heading back to Sweden on Tuesday morning. Naturally, her family has been at all of Poland’s games in Bytom, which is something Sikorska misses when she’s away.

“They’re at every single game and they support me in everything I do and they’re really proud, so I’m really happy that they can come and can see my games again.”