2019 IIHF World Women's U18 Championship

The 2019 IIHF Women's U18 World Championship was the 12th Women's U18 World Championship in ice hockey. It was played at the Obihiro Arena in Obihiro, Japan from 6 to 13 January.

2019 IIHF World Women's U18 Championship

Tournament details
Host country	Japan
Venue(s)	1 (in 1 host city)
Dates	6–13 January 2019
Teams	8
Final positions
Champions	Canada (5th title)
Runner-up	United States
Third place	Finland
Fourth place	Russia
Tournament statistics
Games played	22
Goals scored	98 (4.45 per game)
Attendance	9,031 (411 per game)
Scoring leader(s)	Elisa Holopainen (8 points)
MVP	Raygan Kirk
Official website
iihf.com/en/events/2019/ww18

Top Division

Preliminary round

All times are local (UTC+9).

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	United States	3	3	0	0	0	8	4	+4	9	Semifinals
2	Canada	3	2	0	0	1	9	5	+4	6
3	Russia	3	1	0	0	2	8	11	−3	3	Quarterfinals
4	Sweden	3	0	0	0	3	4	9	−5	0

Source: IIHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament.

6 January 2019 13:00

Sweden

1–2 (0–1, 1–1, 0–0)

Canada

Obihiro Arena 1 Attendance: 350

Game reference
	Tindra Holm	Goalies	Mahika Sarrazin	Referees: Gabriela Malá Ramona Weiß Linesmen: Kristin Moore Linnea Sainio
	0–1 11:36 – Calabrese (Wheeler, Markowski) 0–2 28:51 – Serdachny (J. Gosling, Markowski) (PP) G. Johansson (Mogren, Forsberg) – 31:57 1–2
	16 min	Penalties	12 min
	10	Shots	34

6 January 2019 17:00

United States

3–2 (1–1, 2–1, 0–0)

Russia

Obihiro Arena 1 Attendance: 300

Game reference
	Skylar Vetter	Goalies	Daria Gredzen	Referees: Anniina Nurmi Radka Růžičková Linesmen: Stephanie Cole Zita Gebora
	Webster (Bilka, Winn) (PP) – 04:55 1–0 1–1 05:58 – Markova (Mezentseva) O'Brien (Webster) – 22:51 2–1 Shearen (Eden, Nicholson) – 25:33 3–1 3–2 36:59 – Mezentseva (Markova) (PP)
	14 min	Penalties	14 min
	38	Shots	21

7 January 2019 13:00

Sweden

3–5 (0–1, 1–1, 2–3)

Russia

Obihiro Arena 1 Attendance: 170

Game reference
	Tindra Holm	Goalies	Anna Alpatova	Referees: Kaylen Erchul Élizabeth Mantha Linesmen: Marie-Pierre Jalbert Svenja Strohmenger
	0–1 05:47 – Shkalyova (Mezentseva, Markova) Olsson (Bouveng) – 27:34 1–1 1–2 30:02 – Shkalyova (Markova, Golovkina) Ljungblom (Bouveng) (PP) – 40:34 2–2 2–3 44:06 – Shkalyova (Lopukhova, Savonina) Bouveng – 51:02 3–3 3–4 56:38 – Akhmetova (Luchnikova, Shashkina) 3–5 58:37 – Ponyatovskaya (Savonina)
	16 min	Penalties	14 min
	28	Shots	32

7 January 2019 17:00

Canada

2–3 (1–0, 1–2, 0–1)

United States

Obihiro Arena 1 Attendance: 490

Game reference
	Raygan Kirk	Goalies	Skylar Vetter	Referees: Daria Ermak Tijana Haack Linesmen: Anna Hammar Linnea Sainio
	J. Gosling (Wheeler) – 17:54 1–0 Cote (N. Gosling) – 21:26 2–0 2–1 24:08 – Petrie 2–2 24:22 – Murphy (Winn) 2–3 43:41 – Murphy (O'Brien)
	10 min	Penalties	10 min
	20	Shots	23

9 January 2019 13:00

Russia

1–5 (0–3, 0–1, 1–1)

Canada

Obihiro Arena 1 Attendance: 240

Game reference
	Daria Gredzen Anna Alpatova	Goalies	Raygan Kirk	Referees: Anna Kuroda Jestina Vichorek Linesmen: Amy Lack Kristin Moore
	0–1 16:07 – Guay (Cooper) (PP) 0–2 16:43 – Cherkowski (Weiss) 0–3 17:32 – Shirley (Cooper, Guay) (PP) 0–4 21:32 – Grant (Wheeler, Guay) Shkalyova (Mezentseva) (PP) – 43:21 1–4 1–5 44:45 – Markowski (Cherkowski, Wheeler) (PP2)
	28 min	Penalties	14 min
	11	Shots	42

9 January 2019 17:00

United States

2–0 (0–0, 1–0, 1–0)

Sweden

Obihiro Arena 1 Attendance: 280

Game reference
	Skylar Vetter	Goalies	Amanda Johansson	Referees: Élizabeth Mantha Radka Růžičková Linesmen: Zita Gebora Diana Mokhova
	Eden (Zanon, Hartmetz) (EA) – 32:37 1–0 Knoll (Murphy, Bernard) (PP) – 41:48 2–0
	8 min	Penalties	10 min
	40	Shots	17

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Finland	3	3	0	0	0	8	4	+4	9	Quarterfinals
2	Switzerland	3	2	0	0	1	5	5	0	6
3	Czech Republic	3	1	0	0	2	5	5	0	3	Relegation round
4	Japan (H)	3	0	0	0	3	4	8	−4	0

Source: IIHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament.
(H) Host

6 January 2019 14:30

Finland

2–1 (1–1, 1–0, 0–0)

Japan

Obihiro Arena 2 Attendance: 1,064

Game reference
	Erica Jaskari	Goalies	Reika Sasaki	Referees: Kaylen Erchul Tijana Haack Linesmen: Marie-Pierre Jalbert Amy Lack
	Holopainen (Vainikka, Laitinen) (PP) – 17:44 1–0 1–1 18:56 – A. Sasaki (Wajima, M. Tsutsumi) Holopainen (Vainikka) – 36:13 2–1
	6 min	Penalties	8 min
	19	Shots	19

6 January 2019 18:30

Czech Republic

0–1 (0–1, 0–0, 0–0)

Switzerland

Obihiro Arena 2 Attendance: 117

Game reference
	Julie Pejšová	Goalies	Saskia Maurer	Referees: Daria Ermak Jestina Vichorek Linesmen: Anna Hammar Diana Mokhova
	0–1 09:50 – Zimmermann (Pagnamenta, Leemann) (PP)
	10 min	Penalties	8 min
	36	Shots	9

7 January 2019 14:30

Czech Republic

4–2 (1–0, 2–1, 1–1)

Japan

Obihiro Arena 2 Attendance: 586

Game reference
	Julie Pejšová	Goalies	Reika Sasaki	Referees: Anniina Nurmi Ramona Weiß Linesmen: Zita Gebora Kristin Moore
	Mlýnková – 08:43 1–0 1–1 30:58 – Suzuki (Shiga, Nomura) (PP) Haasová (Exnerová, Kaltounková) – 32:20 2–1 Mlýnková (D. Pejšová, Kotounová) – 38:55 3–1 3–2 56:38 – A. Sasaki (M. Tsutsumi) Čajanová – 58:31 4–2
	16 min	Penalties	4 min
	26	Shots	31

7 January 2019 18:30

Switzerland

2–4 (0–0, 0–2, 2–2)

Finland

Obihiro Arena 2 Attendance: 147

Game reference
	Saskia Maurer	Goalies	Erica Jaskari	Referees: Anna Kuroda Radka Růžičková Linesmen: Stephanie Cole Diana Mokhova
	0–1 24:51 – Liikala (Kaila, Seikkula) 0–2 38:46 – Holopainen (Vainikka) Neuenschwander – 42:16 1–2 Christen (Zimmermann) (PP) – 43:16 2–2 2–3 53:07 – Vainikka (Holopainen) 2–4 54:54 – Timonen (Seikkula)
	2 min	Penalties	12 min
	9	Shots	28

9 January 2019 14:30

Japan

1–2 (0–1, 1–1, 0–0)

Switzerland

Obihiro Arena 2 Attendance: 702

Game reference
	Rei Halloran Reika Sasaki	Goalies	Saskia Maurer	Referees: Tijana Haack Gabriela Malá Linesmen: Anna Hammar Linnea Sainio
	0–1 11:54 – Pagnamenta (Zimmermann) Shiga (Ito, Sato) (PP2) – 24:30 1–1 1–2 30:52 – Ingold (Pagnamenta) (SH)
	12 min	Penalties	12 min
	29	Shots	15

9 January 2019 18:30

Finland

2–1 (0–0, 1–0, 1–1)

Czech Republic

Obihiro Arena 2 Attendance: 109

Game reference
	Erica Jaskari	Goalies	Julie Pejšová	Referees: Kaylen Erchul Daria Ermak Linesmen: Stephanie Cole Svenja Strohmenger
	Holopainen (Laitinen, Rantala) (PP) – 24:07 1–0 1–1 57:04 – Haasová (Kaltounková) Yrjänen (Seikkula) (ENG) – 59:26 2–1
	10 min	Penalties	6 min
	20	Shots	25

Relegation round

The third and fourth placed team from Group B will play a best-of-three series to determine the relegated team.

10 January 2019 14:30

Czech Republic

6–0 (2–0, 2–0, 2–0)

Japan

Obihiro Arena 2 Attendance: 238

Game reference
	Julie Pejšová	Goalies	Reika Sasaki Rei Halloran	Referees: Anniina Nurmi Ramona Weiß Linesmen: Marie-Pierre Jalbert Svenja Strohmenger
	D. Pejšová (Kaltounková) – 03:07 1–0 Škrdlová (Seroiszková, Dýcková) – 04:06 2–0 Mazancová (Kaltounková) – 35:25 3–0 Mazancová (Haasová, Kaltounková) – 36:58 4–0 Mlýnková (Dýcková, Čajanová) – 46:49 5–0 Hanzlíková (Seroiszková) (PP) – 54:52 6–0
	2 min	Penalties	8 min
	26	Shots	9

12 January 2019 14:30

Japan

2–1 (0–1, 1–0, 1–0)

Czech Republic

Obihiro Arena 2 Attendance: 783

Game reference
	Reika Sasaki	Goalies	Julie Pejšová	Referees: Tijana Haack Anniina Nurmi Linesmen: Zita Gebora Diana Mokhova
	0–1 04:54 – Haasová (Mazancová, Kaltounková) Sonoya (Sato) – 22:57 1–1 Ito (Wajima) – 45:12 2–1
	2 min	Penalties	8 min
	24	Shots	15

13 January 2019 13:00

Czech Republic

3–1 (0–0, 1–0, 2–1)

Japan

Obihiro Arena 2 Attendance: 746

Game reference
	Julie Pejšová	Goalies	Reika Sasaki	Referees: Kaylen Erchul Daria Ermak Linesmen: Marie-Pierre Jalbert Amy Lack
	Mlýnková (Seroiszková) – 23:13 1–0 Jandušíková (Sýkorová, Škrdlová) – 46:39 2–0 Mlýnková – 58:42 3–0 3–1 59:28 – Ito (Suzuki) (EA)
	8 min	Penalties	4 min
	20	Shots	18

Final round

Bracket

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Final

A1

United States

7

A4

Sweden

2

B1

Finland

1

B1

Finland (OT)

3

A1

United States

2

A2

Canada (OT)

3

A2

Canada (OT)

4

A3

Russia (GWS)

2

A3

Russia

3

B2

Switzerland

1

Third place

A3

Russia

0

B1

Finland

3

Quarterfinals

10 January 2019 14:30

Sweden

2–3 OT (0–0, 1–1, 1–1) (OT: 0–1)

Finland

Obihiro Arena 1 Attendance: 140

Game reference
	Tindra Holm	Goalies	Erica Jaskari	Referees: Anna Kuroda Élizabeth Mantha Linesmen: Zita Gebora Amy Lack
	0–1 22:54 – Rantala (Holopainen, Vainikka) (PP) Thuvik (Forsgren) – 38:44 1–1 T. Johansson (Waxin, Antonsson) (PP) – 57:32 2–1 2–2 58:08 – Laitinen (EA) 2–3 65:34 – Holopainen (Yrjänen)
	8 min	Penalties	8 min
	26	Shots	30

10 January 2019 18:30

Russia

2–1 GWS (1–0, 0–0, 0–1) (OT: 0–0) (SO: 1–0)

Switzerland

Obihiro Arena 1 Attendance: 120

Game reference
	Daria Gredzen	Goalies	Saskia Maurer	Referees: Gabriela Malá Jestina Vichorek Linesmen: Stephanie Cole Anna Hammar
	Shashkina (Namestnikova) (PP) – 10:17 1–0 1–1 56:08 – Christen (PP)
	Shkalyova Markova Pushkar Tsatsyna Mezentseva Pushkar Ponyatovskaya Pushkar Mezentseva Provorova	Shootout	Ingold Christen Vallario Leemann Zimmermann Ingold Pagnamenta Leemann Zimmermann Christen
	16 min	Penalties	8 min
	31	Shots	18

Semifinals

12 January 2019 13:00

United States

7–1 (4–0, 0–0, 3–1)

Finland

Obihiro Arena 1 Attendance: 300

Game reference
	Skylar Vetter	Goalies	Erica Jaskari Aino Laitinen	Referees: Daria Ermak Gabriela Malá Linesmen: Stephanie Cole Marie-Pierre Jalbert
	Knoll (Bilka, Samoskevich) – 02:43 1–0 Bilka (Knoll) – 05:51 2–0 Murphy (Webster) – 08:09 3–0 Petrie (Knoll) (PP) – 19:36 4–0 Knoll (Petrie) – 43:47 5–0 Samoskevich (Bard, Hartmetz) (PP) – 48:15 6–0 Webster (Monihan) – 50:09 7–0 7–1 56:08 – Liikala (Yrjänen, Nuutinen)
	4 min	Penalties	10 min
	36	Shots	18

12 January 2019 17:00

Canada

4–3 OT (1–1, 2–1, 0–1) (OT: 1–0)

Russia

Obihiro Arena 1 Attendance: 330

Game reference
	Raygan Kirk	Goalies	Daria Gredzen	Referees: Kaylen Erchul Ramona Weiß Linesmen: Amy Lack Svenja Strohmenger
	0–1 09:03 – Savonina (Luchnikova) (PP) Kelly (Trevors, MacEachern) – 11:49 1–1 Guay (Wheeler, Calabrese) – 21:28 2–1 2–2 27:46 – Markova (Savonina, Volf) (PP) J. Gosling (Guay) (PP) – 39:36 3–2 3–3 51:51 – Provorova (Shkalyova, Markova) (PP) Serdachny (PP) – 60:44 4–3
	14 min	Penalties	12 min
	30	Shots	13

Fifth place game

12 January 2019 18:30

Sweden

2–1 (1–1, 1–0, 0–0)

Switzerland

Obihiro Arena 2 Attendance: 152

Game reference
	Amanda Johansson	Goalies	Saskia Maurer	Referees: Anna Kuroda Radka Růžičková Linesmen: Kristin Moore Linnea Sainio
	0–1 02:18 – Ingold (Zimmermann, Surdez) Ljungblom (Waxin, Olsson) – 02:56 1–1 Blom (Ljungblom, Thuvik) (PP) – 25:25 2–1
	6 min	Penalties	2 min
	31	Shots	12

Bronze medal game

13 January 2019 13:00

Russia

0–3 (0–0, 0–2, 0–1)

Finland

Obihiro Arena 1 Attendance: 140

Game reference
	Daria Gredzen Anna Alpatova	Goalies	Erica Jaskari	Referees: Élizabeth Mantha Jestina Vichorek Linesmen: Anna Hammar Kristin Moore
	0–1 22:59 – Vainikka (Laitinen, Holopainen) 0–2 23:32 – Suoranta (Ahlskog, Seikkula) 0–3 59:56 – Liikala (Seikkula) (PP, EN)
	6 min	Penalties	16 min
	25	Shots	19

Gold medal game

13 January 2019 17:00

United States

2–3 OT (0–1, 1–0, 1–1) (OT: 0–1)

Canada

Obihiro Arena 1 Attendance: 1,527

Game reference
	Skylar Vetter	Goalies	Raygan Kirk	Referees: Tijana Haack Anniina Nurmi Linesmen: Diana Mokhova Linnea Sainio
	0–1 07:44 – Serdachny (J. Gosling, Guay) (PP) Webster (Winn, Nicholson) (PP) – 37:10 1–1 Murphy (O'Brien, Webster) – 46:07 2–1 2–2 51:11 – Cherkowski (Serdachny, J. Gosling) (PP) 2–3 61:34 – Wheeler (PP)
	16 min	Penalties	18 min
	27	Shots	27

Final ranking

Pos	Grp	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Final result
1	A	Canada	5	2	2	0	1	16	10	+6	10	Champions
2	A	United States	5	4	0	1	0	17	8	+9	13	Runners-up
3	B	Finland	6	4	1	0	1	15	13	+2	14	Third place
4	A	Russia	6	1	1	1	3	13	19	−6	6	Fourth place
5	A	Sweden	5	1	0	1	3	8	13	−5	4	Fifth place game
6	B	Switzerland	5	2	0	1	2	7	9	−2	7
7	B	Czech Republic	6	3	0	0	3	15	8	+7	9	Advance in Relegation
8	B	Japan (H)	6	1	0	0	5	7	18	−11	3	Relegation to Division I A

Source: IIHF
(H) Host

Statistics

Scoring leaders

Pos	Player	Country	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
1	Elisa Holopainen	Finland	6	5	3	8	+2	6
2	Makenna Webster	United States	5	3	3	6	+4	0
3	Alexie Guay	Canada	5	2	4	6	+2	8
4	Ilona Markova	Russia	6	2	4	6	0	0
4	Viivi Vainikka	Finland	6	2	4	6	+2	2
6	Maddi Wheeler	Canada	5	1	5	6	+4	2
7	Kristýna Kaltounková	Czech Republic	6	0	6	6	+6	8
8	Natálie Mlýnková	Czech Republic	6	5	0	5	+6	10
9	Abbey Murphy	United States	5	4	1	5	+5	8
10	Yelizaveta Shkalyova	Russia	6	4	1	5	0	2

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = P Plus–minus; PIM = Penalties In Minutes
Source: IIHF

Goaltending leaders

(minimum 40% team's total ice time)

Pos	Player	Country	TOI	GA	GAA	SA	Sv%	SO
1	Saskia Maurer	Switzerland	308:58	8	1.55	154	94.81	1
2	Julie Pejšová	Czech Republic	358:42	7	1.17	110	93.64	1
3	Skylar Vetter	United States	301:34	8	1.59	103	92.23	1
4	Erica Jaskari	Finland	313:29	9	1.72	111	91.89	1
5	Tindra Holm	Sweden	185:34	10	3.23	96	89.58	0

TOI = Time On Ice (minutes:seconds); GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; SA = Shots against; Sv% = Save percentage; SO = Shutouts
Source: IIHF

Awards

Best players selected by the directorate

• Best Goaltender: Saskia Maurer
• Best Defenceman: Alexie Guay
• Best Forward: Elisa Holopainen

Source:

Media All-Stars

• MVP: Raygan Kirk
• Goaltender: Saskia Maurer
• Defencemen: Alexie Guay / Nelli Laitinen
• Forwards: Elisa Holopainen / Katy Knoll / Ilona Markova

Source:

Division I

Main article: 2019 IIHF World Women's U18 Championship Division I

Group A

The Division I Group A tournament was held in Radenthein, Austria from 7 to 13 January 2019.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Slovakia	5	4	0	0	1	14	9	+5	12	Promoted to the 2020 Top Division
2	Germany	5	3	1	0	1	21	8	+13	11
3	Hungary	5	3	0	1	1	13	9	+4	10
4	Italy	5	1	1	1	2	9	16	−7	6
5	Denmark	5	1	0	1	3	9	15	−6	4
6	Austria (H)	5	0	1	0	4	3	12	−9	2	Relegated to the 2020 Division I B

Source: IIHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament.
(H) Host

Group B

The Division I Group B tournament was held in Dumfries, Great Britain from 6 to 12 January 2019.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	France	5	4	0	1	0	18	2	+16	13	Promoted to the 2020 Division I A
2	Norway	5	3	1	1	0	14	4	+10	12
3	Great Britain (H)	5	2	1	1	1	7	7	0	9
4	Poland	5	2	1	0	2	12	14	−2	8
5	China	5	1	0	0	4	6	16	−10	3
6	Netherlands	5	0	0	0	5	5	19	−14	0	Relegated to the 2020 Division II A

Source: IIHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament.
(H) Host

Group B Qualification

The Division I Group B Qualification tournament was held in Jaca, Spain from 12 to 18 January 2019. For 2020 it was decided to create a Division II and split the teams into two groups. The teams that did not make the semifinals were essentially relegated to Division II B.

5th–7th place playoffs

	5th−7th place semifinal				5th place match
	16 January
	Turkey	1
					18 January
	Mexico	0
					Turkey	0
					Spain	7

Championship playoffs

	Semifinals				Final
	16 January
	Kazakhstan	3
					18 January
	Chinese Taipei	1
					Kazakhstan	3
	16 January
					South Korea (GWS)	4
	South Korea	5
	Australia	2
					3rd place match
					18 January
					Chinese Taipei	6
					Australia	2

Final standings

Rank	Team
	South Korea
	Kazakhstan
	Chinese Taipei
4	Australia
5	Spain
6	Turkey
7	Mexico

Promoted to the 2020 Division I B