As the saying goes, defence wins championships.

And Team Germany showed that to be true at the IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship Division I Group A this past week. Germany allowed just five goals in five games, winning four of them and losing once in overtime. Germany’s 13-point total gave them the gold medal at the tournament, one point ahead of second-place Japan.

The star of the week was goaltender Tara Bach, who played all five games for Germany, posting a sizzling 0.948 save percentage and miniscule 0.99 goals against average. Bach led all goaltenders in minutes played, logging 303 minutes 40 seconds in net.

The Germans opened the tournament with a 2-1 overtime loss to France on 12 January but couldn’t be stopped from there. They edged Denmark 2-1, took care of Italy 5-1, slipped by Japan 2-1 and shut out Norway 2-0. Germany’s 12 goals for was only the fourth best in the six-team tournament, but it was all the team needed thanks to the stingy defence and goaltending.

Alexandra Boico (Bishop Kearney Selects) led Germany in scoring with three goals and five points, with Charleen Poindl (Ontario Hockey Academy) adding three goals and an assist.

Japan second, France third

Japan came close, winning the silver medal. It could have been gold, though, had the Japanese found a way to defeat Germany.

The teams played on 17 January, with Japan taking a 1-0 lead on a goal by Tsumugi Ito three and a half minutes into the first period. Poindl tied the game for Germany late in the first and the game winner came 16:27 into the second when Theresa Zielinski scored. Germany won the game 2-1, a huge victory on its path to gold.

Japan’s players should hold their heads high with a strong tournament that saw the team lead the tournament with 34 goals. Japan earned wins against Denmark, Norway, France and Italy.

France, with two regulations wins and an overtime victory, won the bronze medal with eight points. 

Individual award winners

Germany’s Bach was named the tournament’s top goalkeeper. The top defender was Japan’s Kika Terauchi, who had seven points and was plus-eight. France’s Clemence Boudin, who had eight goals and 11 points, was named top forward.
 

Final standings:

1.      Germany – 13 points

2.      Japan – 12 points

3.      France – 8 points 

4.      Norway – 7 points

5.      Denmark – 5 points

6.      Italy – 0 points 

Game results:

12 January: FRA 2-1 GER (OT), DEN 3-6 JPN, NOR 3-2 ITA

13 January: GER 2-1 DEN, JPN 12-0 NOR, ITA 1-3 FRA

15 January: JPN 5-1 FRA, DEN 4-3 NOR (OT), ITA 1-5 GER

17 January: NOR 4-3 FRA, GER 2-1 JPN, ITA 3-6 DEN

18 January: GER 2-0 NOR, FRA 4-1 DEN, JPN 10-1 ITA