Laila Edwards, who scored the tying goal in the second period for the USA, might have given the host Czechs the biggest compliment after Saturday’s semifinal game at the 2025 IIHF Women’s World Championship.
“There were times when it felt like a Canada-USA game,” Edwards said after the USA’s narrow 2-1 win. “A lot of credit to the Czechs for bringing it.”
“Your heart hurts for the girls because I thought we played an incredible game,” said Czech coach Carla McLeod. “We didn’t back down, we played highly physical in our own zone and, obviously, kept ourselves in the game.
“It’s a heartbreaker that way but it’s also just another step in our journey of trying ot get ourselves elevated to the level we want to be at, and today we showed ourselves that we can get there.”
“At first, you’re a little bit disappointed because we really thought we could get them this time,” said forward Michaela Pejzlová. “Unfortunately, they were able to turn the game around and get the win. At the same time, we played really well and we need to focus on the positives and take that into the game tomorrow.”
Laila Edwards, Coach Wroblewski Praise Czechs, Look Ahead To Final
The Americans found themselves in unfamiliar territory in the
semifinals of the IIHF Women’s World Championship, trailing 1-0 to
host Czechia after one period.
This was the third time in four years that Czechia faced the USA in the semifinals. In 2022 the USA won 10-1 and in 2023 the score was 9-1. This game was a lot closer but the USA still had a wide 45-11 edge in shots, which gave the Czechs little margin for error and required a goaltending performance from Klára Peslarová that was reminiscent of the 2022 Olympic quarterfinals in Beijing.
“Tremendous,” said McLeod. “She’s been getting stronger and stronger as this tournament’s been going on, certainly gave a performance today and gave us a chance to win. I’m really happy for her and really happy for the whole team.”
“I think Klára’s one of the best goalies in the world,” said Pejzlová. “Even though she hasn’t been playing this season, she comes to the Worlds and still puts up a game like this. We’ve focused on the D-zone so we can help her as much as we can but it was difficult. She was unbelievable.”
“Our biggest problem is we didn’t shoot enough,” said captain Aneta Tejralová. “If you don’t shoot, you can’t score. But nonetheless, I’m proud of my team and my group and we should take the positive things from this into tomorrow’s game.”
One of Czechia’s noticeable strengths this tournament has been the team’s tenacity and physical style. It allowed them to completely dominate Switzerland in the quarterfinals and gave the Americans all sorts of fits in the semis. At the same time, the Czechs have been the most penalized team in the tournament by a wide margin, but McLeod has no regrets about the way the team plays.
“You have to play physical against them,” said McLeod. “They want time and space and can skate, so you have to disrupt their path and take it. I think today the embellishment got us and that’s the reality. Ultimately, we did half-decent on our penalty-killing – they got one on the power play – but no, our team’s playing the right way to win. It’s what’s necessary and we’ll just continue on that path.”
After Czechia’s 4-0 group-stage loss to the Americans, Natálie Mlynková confidently stated, “We are coming for them. Even if it doesn’t happen this year, even if it doesn’t happen in two years, it’s gonna happen eventually. We’re closing the gap and I think it’s showing.”
Tejralová, Pejzlová and Peslarová are all among the nine members of this current Czech women’s team who were already playing a decade ago when they were still in Division I Group A. Now, they were one goal away from advancing to the World Championship final.
“It’s amazing that we’ve known each other for such a long time, we went through that division and now we’re here, playing the US and Canada,” said Tejralová.
“We’ve come a long way from a couple years back,” said Pejzlová, referring to those 2022 and 2023 semifinal losses. “If we look at those games, we were nowhere near this level. I’m really proud of everybody and hopefully the win will come at some point.”
But now comes the quick turnaround to a bronze-medal game on Sunday afternoon against Finland or Canada.
“I think we know it’s part of the tournament,” said McLeod. “It’s an emotional loss today, there’s no doubt about it, but there’s nothing like playing for a medal on home soil and that’s not going to be lost on any of us tomorrow.”
“Of course it’s going to be difficult because it’s not even 24 hours until the next game,” Pejzlová said about the 2 pm start. “We do have a bit of an advantage over the team that loses tonight, so we really need to take advantage of that. Maybe it’s going to be harder mentally than physically because we really hoped we could win this one, but I think we’re gonna be ready tomorrow.”
“It means a lot,” Tejralová said about the chance to win bronze on home ice. “Our parents and friends are all here, and we play for them as well.”