Czech Republic – CanucksBanter

Women’ s Final Olympic Qualification Group C Tournament For 2022 Winter Olympics

by Derek O’Brien|14 NOV 2021

There was a big-game feeling in the air in Chomutov on the final day of qualifying for the women’s ice hockey tournament at the 2022 Winter Olympics, prior to the start of the all-important clash between the Czech Republic and Hungary. Two 2-0 teams that had come close before but had never reached the Olympics, but only one would make history while the other would have to wait another cycle.

But on this day, the Czechs weren’t in the mood for drama and made it clear right from the get-go that this spot was not up for dispute. They scored three times in the first period before cruising to a 5-1 victory, and punched their tickets to Beijing.

“We played extremely smart, extremely composed, we waited for our scoring chances,” said Czech head coach Tomas Pacina. “We played well offensively and scored on our chances, but also extremely well defensively. I’m very proud of the girls, very happy for Czech women and for women in general. Finally, Czech women’s hockey will be represented where it belongs, and that’s at the Olympic games.”

Just 1:24 into the game, Aneta Tejralova, fresh off a five-assist performance against Poland, added another helper to her total when she came out of the corner and found Klara Hymlarova at the far post for the tap-in, sending the already excited Czech crowd into a frenzy.

Talking about the source of the team’s energetic start, captain Alena Mills said: “It comes from the group of girls we have and the coaching staff. We all work for each other, we all get along on the ice and on. We’re always singing, which makes for a fun game and you see the result. We’re a team and we can build on the little things, support each other and give each other energy.”

A Hungarian power play stemmed some of that early momentum but the Czechs soon went back to the attack again, and in the midst of a goalmouth scramble at 12:15, Lenka Serdar got her stick on the puck and whacked it inside the post to make it 2-0.

Hungary needed to stem the tide and had a chance to do something on the power play when Daniela Pejsova was sent off for interference at 13:45. But after Alexandra Huszak won the attacking-zone faceoff, Vendula Pribylova beat everyone to the puck at the point and was off to the races, beating Nemeth with a forehand deke.

“Obviously, we were the underdogs and it was a quick turnaround after playing late last night, so maybe our gas tank wasn’t quite full,” said Hungarian head coach Lisa Haley. “Playing against a team that has as much speed as the Czechs do, it was a mountain we couldn’t quite get to the top of. We couldn’t afford to fall behind like that. We needed to keep the game close into the third period, but that’s probably the best I’ve ever seen the Czechs play and they’re deserving of this.”

Hungary’s best chance of the opening period went to Reka Debasi, who was robbed by the glove of Klara Peslarova from point-blank range with just over five minutes to go.

After holding a 12-7 advantage in shots over the opening 20 minutes, the Czechs were even more dominant in the second with a 14-3 edge. By this time, they didn’t seem as concerned with adding to their lead as they were managing the puck, and didn’t generate a lot of great scoring chances.

They did score one goal in the 28^th minute, with defender Samantha Kolowratova joining the rush to make it a 3-on-2, and converting the backhand pass from Noemi Neubauerova.

“We had our ups and downs,” said Hungarian defender Lotti Odnoga. “I think we could have attacked the net more and closed the gaps and stayed closer with them, but it doesn’t do much good to think now about what we could have done better. I think the Czechs just played better than us and it shows in the result.”

Hungary showed some life on a third-period power play but it came to an end when Hayley Williams was called for slashing while digging at a puck under Peslarova’s glove. On the ensuing Czech power play, Denisa Krizova put in a rebound with 4:30 to play.

The only question remaining was whether Peslarova’s shutout would remain, and with 2:01 to play, spoiled it, Huszak forced a puck over the goal line that the Czech goalie quickly pulled out, but video replay confirmed that it did indeed cross the line.

But that did little to dampen the spirits of the 1853 in attendance, as the tense pre-game air was replaced by one of anticipation. They stood for the final minute and as the seconds ran off, the celebration was on throughout the arena.

Turning his attention to the Olympics, Pacina said: “We have a little bit of breathing room now as a coaching staff and we have a tough job to do picking the team. Two of our best players aren’t here. We’ll get together in December and we’ll centralize on January 5^th, two weeks before we fly to the Olympics.”

Women’ s Final Olympic Qualification Group C Tournament For 2022 Winter Olympics

In the second game for each team in Final Qualification Group C, the host Czechs earned their second win with a convincing 16-0 victory over Poland, who fall to 0-2 before 1139 mostly Czech fans in Chomutov, although there was a noticeable Polish contingent in attendance as well.

Katerina Mrazova led the Czech offence with two goals and four assists, while Aneta Tejralova had five assists. In her first appearance of the tournament, Viktorie Svejdova didn’t have to make a ton of saves for the shutout, but did face a couple of odd-man rushes that she came up big on.

The Czechs wasted little time getting started, finding the net twice in the first two minutes. First, it was captain Alena Mills with a nice deflection on Aneta Tejralova’s point shot at the 52-second mark. A minute later, Dominika Laskova used her speed to motor out front and scored with a quick shot. Natalie Mlynkova made it 3-0 with a rising wrister through traffic that beat a screened Agata Kosinska at 6:02.

Poland’s lone shot on goal in the first period came on a 2-on-1 rush, with defender Julia Zielinska electing to shoot and hitting Svejdova in the shoulder.

Poland managed to kill off the lone penalty of the first period, but just 16 seconds after it ended, Mills scored her second of the game on a backdoor pass from Klara Hymlarova at 15:27. Two minutes later, Noemi Neubauerova scored the Czechs’ fifth and final goal of the opening frame.

After getting beaten on six of 17 first-period shots, Kosinska was lifted in favour of Martyna Sass, who had been brilliant against Hungary on Thursday. She could do little to stop the bleeding, however, as the Czechs were relentless in the middle frame, connecting for seven more goals on 26 shots. Mrazova alone had five shots on goal in the middle frame, scoring twice.

With her team down 10, Wiktoria Sikorska, Poland’s lone goal-scorer so far in t he tournament, had her team’s best chance to score late in the second period on a partial breakaway, but Svejdova made a stick save on the five-hole attempt.

Four more Czech goals in the third period made it a 16-0 final, with the hosts spending most of the period in control of the puck, keeping Svejdova’s shutout.

The Czechs now know will be playing Hungary tomorrow with a trip to Beijing on the line. Exactly what they need to secure qualfication will be determined in tonight’s late game between Hungary and Norway.