VANTAA, Finland – It will take some time before the U.S. Under-18 National Team can appreciate the silver medal it won at the 2025 IIHF Under-18 Women’s World Championship.
However, the Americans set several records during the tournament.
U.S. goalie Morgan Stickney, who started every game, led the tournament in both save percentage (.957) and goals against average (0.67). With her three blank sheets to start the tournament, she became the first to ever record three shutouts through the preliminary round, and her shutout streak of 183:01 minutes set a tournament record.
Stickney’s assist on Bella Fanale’s shorthanded goal in Team USA’s quarterfinal win over Slovakia was the first by a goalie in this tournament as well. Haley Box’s goal just nine seconds into that quarterfinal game also set a record for fastest goal to open a game in the tournament’s history.
Every regular starting skater tallied at least a point, and 11 different players scored a goal. With a roster loaded with young talent, the 3-0 loss in the gold-medal game against Canada stings, but it also offers important lessons and experiences that this team can build on in the coming years.
“You have to grow and learn from it,” U.S. head coach Liz Keady Norton said. “The young kids on our team that do have another opportunity at this, I hope they remember it for long enough to learn from it. They’re young and it won’t be their first rodeo the next time around.”
Fanale played in her third and final U18 World Championship in Finland, but the U.S. captain said the experience she gained from her first two tournaments both on the ice and in the locker room made it so she was not nervous this time.
“You want to play in games like this,” Fanale said. “We knew it was going to be fast, we knew it was going to be physical. These are the best games to play in. We gave them a game, it just didn't go our way.”
Fanale admitted after the game that a lot of the emotions she was experiencing were from knowing she’d never play in the U18s again.
“I'm going to miss it a lot,” she said. “There's nothing like representing your country and putting on the USA jersey. You never know when you're going to get to put it on again. I love the intensity and the fun of it. You prepare yourself the whole year just to perform in this tournament and try and bring home the gold medal.”
With 15 players who will be eligible for this tournament for another year and seven that have two years of eligibility left, the U.S. has a core group of players that will return hungry to win a gold medal and with the experience to not get overwhelmed by their first major international tournament.
“For these young kids, it's unfortunate right now, but down the road they’ll be a lot better off for it,” Norton said. “The way they feel right now is what will fuel them to be more prepared next time.
“You can’t recreate this atmosphere anywhere else — to play in front of this many people, for a gold medal, against Canada. These are learning and growing moments for them.”
Norton said that the level of competition they faced throughout the tournament was high and she felt like her team had been challenged throughout the tournament and were prepared for the gold-medal game.
“I give credit to our kids. They fought and they stayed in it and as a coach that’s all I can ask of them,” she said. “You can be proud of the process without being satisfied with the result. No one said it was going to be easy. It hits a little differently when you actually drop the puck out here.”
Canada is set to host the U18 World Championship next year, though a host city has not yet been announced. Wherever they play, the Americans will be ready, said Norton.
“It’s a hard game and it’s a hard 60 minutes for them. Hopefully that’s something that they learn to like,” she said. “I like the trajectory of this U18 team, and we’re not satisfied with this result.”
Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.
Source: usahockey.com