Women's Worlds: Semifinals Are Set After a Suspenseful Quarterfinals

The 2023 women’s World Championship quarterfinals could go down as the most entertaining day of the tournament. 

Increased parity was evident as two games were decided by a single goal, including a dramatic Canadian overtime win over Sweden and Czechia holding on against Finland. Germany, who most thought would meet a lopsided demise against the USA, also held tight. For those interested in the growth of women’s hockey on the international stage, it was a day full of positives.

Although Sweden and Finland both look like worthy medal contenders, they’re now headed to placement games. Canada, USA, Czechia and Switzerland, the same teams who competed for gold, silver, and bronze last year, return to the semifinals.

Here’s a look at the two semifinal matchups.

Switzerland was given a gift facing Japan in what turned out to be the easiest quarterfinal game. They defeated Japan 5-1, riding their top line of Alina Muller, Lara Stalder and Rahel Enzler. That trio will need to be otherworldly in their semifinal game against Canada if the Swiss hope to play for gold. The path for Canada, however, appears clear as they avoided a semifinal matchup against USA and Czechia, the two other toughest teams remaining.

Sarah Nurse scored two goals, including the overtime-winner against Sweden, while Sarah Fillier and Marie-Philip Poulin were quiet. If the full force of Canada’s offense wakes up against Switzerland, a lopsided outcome could be in the cards. Canada has blown leads in their last two games and looked beatable at times.

In the preliminary round, Switzerland put in a physical performance against Canada and relied on the goaltending of Andrea Brandli, being outshot 49-12. In the Canadian net, coach Troy Ryan will undoubtedly go back to Ann-Renee Desbiens for the remainder of the tournament.

For Canada, this game needs to be a time to rid themselves of bad habits and complacency with the lead while gaining confidence after a pair of nail-biter overtime and shootout finishes.

Unless a monumental collapse is in the works, expect Canada to cruise to another gold medal game. At the same time, Switzerland will look to grab their second-ever medal at the World Championships and improve on back-to-back fourth-place finishes.

For the last 30 years, Canada has faced USA in the World Championship gold medal game all but once. The only other team to play for gold was Finland in 2019.

If that legacy is going to change, Czechia will be the team to do it. Under the guidance of former Canadian Olympian Carla MacLeod, Czechia has burst the bubble of international women’s hockey being a two-team competition. 

Although they lost to Canada and USA by identical four-goal differentials in the preliminary round, no team has more skill and better coaching to challenge than Czechia. Whether it’s Dominika Laskova and Daniela Pejsova on the blueline, or Katerina Mrazova and Natalie Mlynkova up front, Czechia has talent. Perhaps their greatest asset, however, is their depth.

With Czechia’s de facto top netminder Klara Peslarova not at the tournament due to injury, the biggest question mark for Czechia is whether or not Blanka Skodova can withstand USA’s shooters. Skodova is coming off her best performance of the tournament, a 41-save semifinal win over Finland. She’ll need to repeat the performance and then some if Czechia hopes to play for gold.

The USA will look to their youth yet again to drive offense. Caroline Harvey and Taylor Heise are the focal points now and in the future for the Americans, followed by Hannah Bilka and Abbey Murphy, who are both having offensively solid tournaments.

While USA remains the favorite, victory is not a given as it may have been in the past.

Expect a Canada versus USA final, but if the quarterfinals were any indication, anything is possible at the 2023 IIHF women’s World Championship.