Team USA Advances To U18 WWC Semifinals, Topping Slovakia, 9-1
VANTAA, Finland – Team USA recorded three power play goals in a 9-1 victory over Slovakia in the quarterfinals of the 2025 IIHF Under-18 Women’s World Championship at Tikkurilan Areena on Thursday.
“Our special teams were firing on all cylinders today,” said Liz Keady Norton (Boston, Mass.), head coach of the 2025 U.S. Under-18 Women’s National Team. “We played our game from puck drop to final whistle.”
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Team USA opened the scoring early, just nine seconds into the game, when Haley Box (Eden Prairie, Minn.) deflected a pass from Evelyn Doyle (Needham, Mass.), who pickpocketed the Slovakian player deep in the zone, before sending a pass to an open Box in front of the net.
The goal set a new IIHF tournament record for fastest goal from the start of the game. The record was previously 10 seconds, held by Adela Sapovalivova of Czechia, who scored 10 seconds into a game against Slovakia on January 14, 2023.
Slovakia answered, recorded the first goal of the tournament against Team USA on a power play 3:01 into the first by Ema Tothova, knotting the game at 1-1.
Doyle posted the second goal of the game for the United States, giving the U.S. a 2-1 advantage, on a power play tally off a loose puck in the crease at the 7:33 mark in the first.
Team USA’s third goal came 2:07 into the second period. Kylie Amelkovich (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) raced a breakaway in from the right side before lifting the rebound off her own shot over Mariana Sumegova’s outstretched pad.
The 4-1 lead came off Doyle’s stick when she tapped a loose puck sitting at the top of the crease just through the Sumegova’s five hole with 10:51 remaining in the second. The goal was Team USA’s third power-play score of the contest.
Sloane Hartmetz (Phoenixville, Pa.) got in on the action with 6:04 elapsed in the third, taking a shot from the middle of the blue line that bounced off a Slovakian defender and past the goalie for a 5-1 lead.
Box’s second of the game came just 1:40 after, ripping a rising shot to the top corner from the high slot to extend the lead to 6-1, while the seventh of the afternoon came off Annabelle Lovell’s (Hingham, Mass.) stick just seconds after a power play expired.
In the closing minutes of the game, Bella Fanale (Webster, N.Y.) tallied a shorthanded goal and Mary Derrenbacher (Raleigh, N.C.) added the eighth and ninth goals of the game to finish with a 9-1 victory.
Goaltender Morgan Stickney (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) made 13 saves in net.
Tournament play continues for the U.S. on Saturday (Jan. 11) with a trip to the semifinals. Puck drop is set for 3 p.m. EET (8 a.m. ET) on NHL Network. Team USA’s opponent will be determined after the conclusion of all quarterfinal games.
NOTES: Evelyn Doyle was named U.S. Player of the Game … The U.S. outshot Slovakia 49-14 … The U.S. was 3-5 on the power play, while Slovakia was 0-6.
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Source: usahockey.com