Victory for Norway U18 Women

Credit: Ice Hockey UK

Victory for Norway U18 Women


Great Britain Under-18 Women suffered their first regulation-time defeat at the U18 Women's World Championship Division I Group B in Katowice as they were beaten 7-1 by Norway U18 Women.

Lucy Beal scored GB's goal in the first period but Norway secured their second victory of the tournament to stay in the hunt for promotion and the gold medal.

Norway led 3-1 at the first interval as Ina Nodeland got the final touch after a goalmouth scramble (6:01) and Ronja Tyra Trondsdotter netted from close range (10:58).

After Kiana Tait's face-off win, Beal scored from the blueline on the powerplay (12:18) to make it a one-goal game, but Silje Gundersen broke into the zone and fired high across Ella Howard for Norway's third (16:31).

GB had two successive powerplay opportunities in period two but struggled to make an impact, before Chloe Headland went close just after the powerplays had come to an end.

Andrea Kaspersen scored Norway's fourth as she cut inside from the right for a fine solo goal (33:30), while Christina Furseth finished off a well-worked powerplay move (38:28).

Emma Nichols replaced Howard at the start of the third period and she could do nothing to stop a sixth Norway goal, as Iben Tillman's shot from the blueline deflected into the net (41:19).

Nichols made two excellent close-range saves as Norway looked to extend their advantage in the closing stages before Mari Pedersen scored on the doorstep, bundling the puck over the line after a scramble (58:23).

Head coach, Cheryl Smith, said: "I didn't think we turned up this afternoon and that is not like this side. Norway played with a lot of passion and heart - and I thought we were sadly lacking that.

"Things weren’t going our way from the get-go, but our team always finds a way through it to get the job done and it just wasn’t there.

"We now have to get our heads together and find a way past Austria. We need the team that played against China and Korea to be there on Tuesday and not what we had today."