Italy – Page 6 – CanucksBanter

by Martin Merk |10 OCT 2021 IIHF

The Italian women’s national team moves to the Final Olympic Qualification for the first time.

The “Azzurre” finished the Olympic Pre-Qualification tournament on home ice in Torre Pellice with three wins in three games, the latest coming in a tough battle with Kazakhstan, 2-1 today.

Italy outshot the Kazakhs 31-15 but were playing behind a 1-0 deficit for most of the game until scoring two goals in the final period.

Italy as the higher-seeded and only undefeated team entered the game as favourite but both teams knew from recent history that it could go either way.

The teams only met three times in IIHF play in three consecutive years between 2016 and 2018 with Italy getting two wins on home ice in Asiago (2-1 SO in 2016, 4-1 in 2018) while Kazakhstan won the clash in 2017, 2-1.

The teams started with entertaining north-south hockey with Kazakhstan having more puck possession in the first minutes and making use of their first official shot on goal.

Kendra Lynne Broad saw her shot attempted interfered by Italian defender Amie Varano but Larisa Sviridova was in perfect position next to them to net the puck for the Kazakh lead at 3:45.

The Kazakhs were active from the beginning and wanted to make up for yesterday’s historic loss to Spain that made their mission on Sunday more difficult as they would need a regulation-time win against Italy.

The game continued with chances at both ends. Kazakhstan caught the eyes in Torre Pellice with good passing and experience with their system as most players come from the same club, Aisulu Almaty, while Italy created dangerous moments with persistent, physical play in front of the net and looking for rebounds.

The Italians had the upper hand late in the period including two power plays but they didn’t create enough opportunities out of it.

Kazakhstan’s Malika Aldabergenova had the biggest chance for a shorthanded goal after a takeaway in the neutral zone but saw her shot saved by goalie Martina Fedel.

With Italy running into penalty trouble late in the first and early in the second period, Kazakhstan had chances to increase the lead but the Italian penalty kill was strong.

With Aida Olzhabayeva in the penalty box for an illegal bodycheck, Italy tried to gain momentum. Aurora Abatangelo had the best opportunity when missing to reach a pass in the crease. The period ended scoreless with an 8-6 shot-on-goal advantage for Italy.

Early in the third period the Italians had their next chance to play with one more player on the ice after a tripping call against Breanna Lynn Berndsen.

The blue team patiently played the puck around the Kazakh penalty kill positions until Franziska Stocker was in good position at the right face-off dot. After receiving Nadia Mattivi’s pass she took the time she got for a top-shelf shot that went in behind Darya Dmitrieva at 2:27 to the loud joy of the Italian bench and fans in Torre Pellice’s Palaghiaccio Olimpico.

The third period continued to be the Italians’ strongest and around the halfway-mark the Kazakhs had trouble bringing the puck out of their zone.

During a puck battle behind Dmitrieva’s net Anna Caumo managed to set herself free in front of the crease and converted a drop pass from Mia Campo Bagatin to give her team the first lead in the game, 2-1.

“Italia! Italia!” chants for the first time echoed through the rink. Kazakhstan tried to react with a fast attack but a penalty for delaying the game against Erin Monique McLean didn’t make the challenge any easier for the Kazakhs.

During the last minutes the Kazakhs tried to create chances to tie the game while on the other side Abatangelo missed a good one on a breakaway. But the Italians didn’t allow their opponents to get back into the game and earned the 2-1 win and the tickets to the Final Olympic Qualification Group D in Fussen, Germany.

by Martin Merk| 10 OCT 2021 IIHF

The Spanish women’s national team got its second win at the Olympic Pre-Qualification Round 2 Group G in Torre Pellice, Italy.

A day after their upset win against Kazakhstan, the Spaniards beat Chinese Taipei 4-0.

With five points out of three games Spain hopes for a second-place finish, which depends on the outcome of the Italy-Kazakhstan evening game.

“We had a great game, moving our feet, getting pucks on net. I’m really proud of the girls. It was a full team effort to win this game,” said Sofia Scilipoti, one of the four different goal scorers of the game.

Ranked higher than Chinese Taipei and with the better performances in Torre Pellice against Italy and Kazakhstan, Spain entered the game this time not as the underdog but as the favourite against a Chinese Taipei women’s team that is among the younger programs in the IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship having joined in the 2016/2017 season.

The teams had met only once before at the 2018 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship Division II Group B in Valdemoro where Spain finished first on home ice.

En route to promotion the Spaniards beat Chinese Taipei 6-1 but the Asians finished their first participation at that level with a respectable second place and won the Division II Group B one year later in Brasov, Romania.

The teams will meet again in April at the 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship Division II Group A in Jaca, Spain.

In Torre Pellice much of the game belonged to Spain in particular in the first period. The yellow-and-red team had more puck possession, spent a lot of time in the opponent’s zone and had a 17-3 shot-on-goal advantage in the first period including two power plays.

Yet the game was scoreless after 20 minutes and the pattern continued to a lesser extent for most of the middle frame.

It was Chinese Taipei’s first power play that brought change – to Spain’s advantage. The Spaniards regained the puck in the penalty kill and Eva Aizpurua was unguarded close to the opponents’ zone to receive the puck at the blue line and go for a breakaway. She beat Tzu-Ting Hsu with a top-corner wrist shot for the 1-0 goal at 13:43.

“I’m most proud of the total team effort. It was well balanced between all four lines. We worked with all of them. Even when it was tied after the first period we knew that we can have some breakthroughs,” Spain head coach Harry Rosenholtz said.

“The amazing thing is that the breakthroughs for the first three goals were rookies. We had a rookie goaltender with a shutout. But overall the team was the hero.”

With the pressure of having to score moved over to Chinese Taipei, the Spaniards played relieved hockey and got more high-percentage chances.

With 88 seconds left in the period, Haizea Fernandez de Romarategui deked two defenders and beat Hsu between the pads. And with 13 seconds to go, Scilipoti extended the lead to 3-0.

At 3:39 of the third period Paula Moreno beat Chinese Taipei goaltender Yun-Tzu Wang, who came in for the last frame replacing Hsu, with a shot from the right face-off dot that went into the net deflected.

With that win Spain finishes the tournament on a high note while Chinese Taipei will use the valuable experience against the higher-ranked opposition as preparation for its Division IIA debut next spring.