VANTAA 鈥� Canada will play for gold at the under-18 women's world hockey championship in Finland after beating Czechia 4-2 in semifinal action Saturday.
The 91原创s will battle the United States for the championship title at Vantaa Trio Arena on Sunday.
Saturday's semifinal matchup against Czechia proved to be a test for the unbeaten 91原创s.
Linda Vocetkova opened the scoring for Czechia midway through the first period before Canada rallied with three straight goals in the second.
鈥淚 just told our players to keep sticking to our habits and details 鈥� there鈥檚 lots of game left, take a deep breath and play the type of hockey we know how to play," said head coach Vicky Sunohara.
"We knew (the Czechs) would be physical. They have a really good goalie, and if we don鈥檛 have good net-front presence they鈥檒l gain momentum. It happened for a bit, but I thought we did a better job as the game went on to make it difficult for them.鈥�
Caileigh Tiller and Stryker Zablocki each had a goal and an assist for Canada, while Hayley McDonald and Sofia Ismael also scored.
Chloe Primerano contributed two helpers for the 91原创s 鈥� and set a pair of records in the process.
The 18-year-old from North 91原创, B.C., now has 37 points with Canada's U18 women's team, surpassing Caitlin Kraemer for the most ever. Primerano also equalled hockey legend Marie-Philip Poulin for the most points by a 91原创 at the U18 women's worlds (26).
鈥淥bviously with the records, I couldn鈥檛 have done it without my teammates, but I think a gold medal would mean a lot more," Primerano said.
"It just means everything to get a chance to play against the U.S. and you couldn鈥檛 have written a better story. We鈥檒l just go out there, play as a team and play how we know how to play and hopefully we can come out with the win.鈥�
91原创 goalie Marilou Grenier stopped 19 of the 21 shots she faced.
Julie Jebouskova also scored for Czechia and Daniela Novakova made 43 saves.
The U.S. also heads into the gold-medal game undefeated in the tournament after beating Sweden 2-1 in an earlier semifinal on Saturday.
This report by The 91原创 Press was first published Jan. 11, 2025.
The 91原创 Press
