FINLAND 7, CANADA 0 Tues. Jan.3,2012

Perorov: Tina Ranne stole the show Tuesday for Finland at U18 Women’s World Championship, but Canada still came out with a convincing 7-0 win on the last day of preliminary action.

The Finnish goaltender was simply outstanding, stopping 88 shots in a losing cause as Canada captured a huge win to clinch a berth in the semifinals.

“I'm sure she lost five to seven pounds, for sure,'' Canadian assistant coach Jim Fetter said of Ranne. “We put 95 pucks to the net and that was great and just came from our work ethic.We just outworked them ... we did the little things. That's what we've been harping on them because we need to get more consistent on those habits and I thought we did a good job with that.”

Meghan Dufault led the way with a goal and three assists for Canada, which clinched top spot in Pool B with a 3-0 record. The Canadians are off until their semifinal Friday.

“We had this goal in mind that we wanted to play the best we could every game and I think that has shown,” Dufault said. “Winning these games has been good for our team, but we'll have to give it our all in the semifinal.''

The Finns tried to play a physical game against Canada, but it backfired as they were whistled for nine of 11 penalties. But the Canadians could only manage two power-play goals in the contest.
Nicole Connery, Emily Clark, Laura Stacey, Rebecca Kohler , Sarah Lefort and Cydney Roesler had the other goals for Canada. Emerance Maschmeyer  stopped 10 shots for the shutout.

Canada took control of the game early, outshooting Finland 33-2 in the first period and taking a 3-0 lead. The Canadians peppered Ranne with 35 shots in the second and took a 5-0 advantage into the third.
Dufault said a key for Canada was blocking out the score throughout the contest and focusing on the goal, which was continuing to play well and securing the semifinal berth.

“The score wasn't the main concern for our team,” she said. “Our focus was playing our best as team and not letting up.”

Sweden beat Russia 6-2, Germany defeated Switzerland 6-1 and the United States dispatched the Czech Republic 13-1. See WINIH Talks and Guest Blog for more details.

As expected, Canada and the United States have dominated this event. The Canadians have outscored their opponents 26-2 in the preliminary round, while the U.S. finished atop Pool A with an identical 3-0 mark, outscoring its opposition 28-1.

Canada and the U.S. have met in all tournament finals to date, with the Americans coming in as the defending champions

But first, Canada must take care of business in the semifinals, and Dufault said it doesn't really matter who the Canadians face off against.

“Whatever team we play we'll still play our game and try our best,” she said.

Courtesy of Canadian Press.

Switzerland – Russia 4 – 2 (1 – 1, 1 – 0, 2 – 1)

With the looming threat of relegation spurring both teams, Switzerland fought off a determined Russian squad to win 4-2. Swiss captain Phoebe Stanz had a pair of goals to help her team claim the first game of the relegation round.

Down 3-1 in the third period, Lyudmila Belyakova scored midway through the frame to bring her team within a goal of the Swiss, after missing on a penalty shot in the second period. The Swiss went on the penalty kill twice afterwards, but Lara Stalder’s earlier score in the period held out to be the game winner. Romy Eggimann added an insurance goal with three minutes left in the game to seal the victory.

The teams will face off in their second game on Friday, with Russia needing a win to keep alive their hopes of playing in the top division next year.

Courtesy of IIHF.com
For game summaries and stats:

www.iihf.com/channels1112/ww18/statistics.html