The World Para Ice Hockey Women's World Championships returned to action following a rest day for all six teams and began with the Placement round, a matchup between Team World and Australia to determine fifth and sixth placement in the tournament.
Defender Akari Fukunishi put Team World on the board first, scoring at 2:55 of the first period. Soyoun Kim closed out the first with a goal, foreshadowing more to come from the defender.
Team World used a strong second period to take a commanding 6-0 lead, led by Kim, who scored twice to complete the hat trick. Another strong third period from Team World, who scored three more to finish the game with a 9-0 victory. With the win, Team World finishes in fifth place, while Australia wrapped up in sixth place.
Despite finishing the tournament with three consecutive losses, and without being able to find the scoresheet, this was a big step for the Australia side, and their program, as they will return home and build off the lessons learned throughout the inaugural championships.
The game saw two goalie changes, as World starter Meranda Reast made way for Anne Buisson, seeing her first action since the opening game. Australia pulled their starter Erika Gosney, who finished with 24 saves and was their most important player throughout the tournament, and gave Bridgett McDonald, from South Australia, her first opportunity in goal.
The first semi-final game of the day featured a matchup between Canada and Norway, with a spot in the gold medal game on the line. This game was Canada's game to lose, as they were heavily favoured as the world number two ranked team coming into the championships.
Canadian forward Raphaëlle Tousignant opened the scoring with her fourth of the tournament, a power play goal at 1:00 of the first period. Norway, despite being down early, played strong defensively, led by captain Lena Schroeder, which frustrated the Canadian forwards who were unable to get set up in the offensive zone and made multiple uncharacteristic passing mistakes.
Despite multiple scoring opportunities, Canada went to the dressing room up 3-0. That score was not indicative of the play from the Norwegian side, who played an impressive first period and who were the better of the team teams.
Canada came out much stronger in the second period, playing with more speed and accuracy, aspects of their game which were missing from the first. When Norway was able to break through the neutral zone, Canada was there with a strong back check, led by defender and captain, Christina Picton. Alyssa White scored her second of the game, another power play goal for Canada, giving them the 4-0 lead heading into the third period.
Sheena Darnley picked up her second goal of the tournament to stretch Canada's lead to 5-0 early in the third, finishing off a play in front of starter Stine Fydenlund. Canada's strong offensive zone pressure was matched throughout the period by Norway's strong team defensive play. Alyssa White scored late in the third period on the rebound, finishing off her hat trick and extending Canada's lead to 6-0. Not to be outdone, Alanna Mah scored her second of the game late in the third on a laser beam of a shot from the left face-off dot.
The game finished with a 7-0 score, as Canada heads off to the gold medal game. Lena Schroeder was awarded Norway's Player of the Game, while Raphaëlle Tousignant received the award for Canada.
Lena Schroeder continued to be the catalyst for Norway. Though Norway was unable to sustain offensive zone pressure, their game goes through Schroeder at both ends of the ice. She's aggressive and can out skate, and out maneuver, anyone on the ice, and that was on full display throughout this semi-final game.
In the third game of the day, the world number one ranked United States faced off against Great Britain for the final spot in the gold medal game against Canada.
The United States wasted no time getting on the board, as forward Catherine Faherty scored her second of the tournament 15 seconds into the first period to give her side the early lead. The US brought their physicality to this matchup, led by forward Rebecca Mann who was strong on the back check, which helped quickly transition to the offensive zone. The US didn't let the fog, which slowly filled the ice surface as the period progressed, stop their relentless attack. Nicole Hill, who finished with 21 saves, came up big for Great Britain, making save after save to keep her side in the game. The United States finished the period as they started by padding their lead, up 6-0.
Much like the first period, the United States didn't wait long to add to their lead, as defender Robynne Hill scored from the blueline to put them up 7-0 in the second. The United States cycle game in the offensive zone made it difficult for Great Britain to defend against, often leaving lanes open for high danger scoring chances. Through two periods, the United States maintained their lead, up 8-0.
The final frame between these two teams saw much of the same, with Great Britain playing good defensively but outmatched by the passing and offensive pressure of the United States. Monica Quimby, with her second of the tournament, and Ai Lin Zheng added to the American lead in the period to help the US remain unbeaten, taking the game by a final of 10-0.
Dani Czernuszka-Watts took home the Player of the Game award for Great Britain, with Monica Quimby taking it for the United States.
The bronze medal game, between Norway and Great Britain, takes place at 9:30am EST on Sunday, with the gold medal game, between Canada and the United States, at 1:00pm EST. Both games will be available to stream live via the Paralympic YouTube channel, as well as the World Para Ice Hockey's Facebook page.