BRAMPTON, Ontario – In a prelude to Saturday’s semifinal games, Finland and Sweden each won placement round games at the 2023 IIHF Women’s World Championship.
 
Of the WCHA’s 45 players competing in the 2023 IIHF Women’s World Championships, 42 advanced to the medal round, while 31 play in Saturday’s semifinal games.
 
FINLAND VS. GERMANY
In Friday’s first placement game Germany was first to get on the board, but St. Cloud State’s Jenniina Nylund answered just 16 seconds later, ultimately jumpstarting an 8-2 victory for Finland. Nylund added an assist on Finland’s seventh goal, and was one of two WCHA players with a multi-point performance.
 
With just 15 seconds remaining in regulation, it was Minnesota’s Nelli Laitinen who scored a power play tally for her third point of the day, following up her pair of assists. The third WCHA skater for Finland also added an apple when St. Cloud State Fall 2023 signee Sofianna Sundelin assisted on Nylund’s tying goal in the first.
 
IIHF GAME RECAP: https://www.iihf.com/en/events/2023/ww/news/43481/hat_trick_for_nieminen
 
SWEDEN VS. JAPAN  
After Minnesota’s Josefin Bouveng scored midway through the first period, her tally eventually stood as the game-winner as Sweden blanked Japan 1-0. In Friday’s late game, Minnesota Duluth’s Emma Soderberg continued her stellar play with a 23-save shutout, fueling Sweden to remain ahead through a scoreless second and third period. The game-winner was assisted by Ohio State’s Sofie Lundin, securing the victory.
 
With the loss, Japan goes home with a seventh-place finish and falls to Group B for next year’s tournament after qualifying as the fifth seed in Group A this year.
 
IIHF GAME RECAP: https://www.iihf.com/en/events/2023/ww/news/43487/sweden_moves_on
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Medal games resume on Saturday with the same four teams in the semifinals for the second year in a row. The United States is slated to face Czechia at 11 a.m. and Canada takes on Switzerland at 3 p.m. Saturday’s winners meet for the gold medal game on Sunday, while earlier in the tournament, Team USA beat Czechia 6-2, and Canada downed Switzerland 4-0. Games involving the United States and Canada throughout the medal round can be found on the NHL Network.
 
Finland advances to face Sweden Sunday morning to determine the fifth-place finisher in the tournament and seeding for next year’s world championships.
 
In the last 30 years of the world tournament, only one – in 2019 when Finland reached the finals – has the gold medal game not featured the United States versus Canada matchup, while Canada has won the last two titles.
 
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE: IIHF - Schedule and Results 2023 IIHF WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
 
TOURNAMENT STANDINGS:  IIHF - Standings 2023 IIHF WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

ROSTER BREAKDOWN
All eight WCHA programs have ties to players at the Women’s World Championships, while of the 10 countries competing, eight have WCHA representation.

The United States leads WCHA representation with 15 players. Team Canada, which beat the United States for the gold medal in the 2022 Winter Olympics and the last two Women’s World Championships, has eight WCHA players speckling the lineup. Switzerland boasts a total of five WCHA players, while Germany and Finland each have four with WCHA ties. Sweden, Hungary, and Czechia each have three players with WCHA connections, while Czechia is coached by former Wisconsin standout Carla MacLeod.

Wisconsin has the most representatives at the event with 11 players, plus head coach MacLeod, including six on Team USA and five on Team Canada. Minnesota has eight players in the tournament, while Minnesota Duluth matches the eight players. St. Cloud State has seven competitors at Women’s Worlds, while Ohio State holds six players. St. Thomas’ trio of participants are all active 2022-23 student-athletes, while Bemidji State has a representative in Hayley Williams as she laces up for Hungary. Rounding out the WCHA rosters is a two-year Minnesota State player in Abbey Levy as she is between the pipes for the United States.

The Team USA contingent also includes former WCHA Commissioner Katie Million as USA Hockey’s Director of National Team Programs, Minnesota State’s assistant coach Shari Dickerman, hockey operations manager Nick Bryant, who has worked at both Minnesota State and Minnesota Duluth, along with Minnesota’s strength coach Cal Dietz. Wisconsin’s athletic trainer Stef Arndt and equipment manager Sis Paulsen also join the staff.
 
For more information on the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, follow the league on Twitter and Instagram @WCHA_WHockey, and online at the new wcha.com.
 
45 PLAYERS, 22 CURRENT STUDENT-ATHLETES, 4 FUTURE STUDENT-ATHLETES, 1 COACH
 
UNITED STATES (15 Players, 7 Current)
Cayla Barnes – Boston College, Ohio State (Fall 2023)
Hannah Bilka – Boston College, Ohio State (Fall 2023)
Britta Curl – Wisconsin *
Lacey Eden – Wisconsin *
Caroline Harvey – Wisconsin *
Taylor Heise – Minnesota *
Gabbie Hughes – Minnesota Duluth *
Amanda Kessel – Minnesota
Hilary Knight – Wisconsin
Nicole LaMantia – Wisconsin *
Abbey Levy – Minnesota State, Boston College
Abbey Murphy – Minnesota *
Kelly Pannek – Minnesota
Abbey Roque – Wisconsin
Lee Stecklein – Minnesota
 
CANADA (8 Players, 1 Current)
Kristen Campbell – North Dakota, Wisconsin
Emily Clark – Wisconsin
Ann-Renee Desbiens – Wisconsin
Jocelyne Larocque – Minnesota Duluth
Emma Maltais – Ohio State *
Sarah Nurse – Wisconsin
Natalie Spooner – Ohio State
Blayre Turnbull – Wisconsin
 
SWITZERLAND (5 Players, 3 Current)
Andrea Braendli – Ohio State, Boston U.
Saskia Maurer – St. Thomas *
Lara Stalder – Minnesota Duluth
Nicole Vallario – St. Thomas *
Laura Zimmermann – St. Cloud State *
 
FINLAND (4 Players, 3 Current, 1 Future)
Sanni Ahola – St. Cloud State *
Nelli Laitinen – Minnesota *
Jenniina Nylund – St. Cloud State *
Sofianna Sundelin – St. Cloud State (Fall 2023)
 
GERMANY (4 Players, 2 Current)
Marie Delarbre – Minnesota Duluth, Merrimack
Nina Jobst-Smith – Minnesota Duluth *
Laura Kluge – St. Cloud State
Svenja Voigt – St. Cloud State *

CZECHIA (3 Players, 2 Current)
Klara Hymlarova – St. Cloud State *
Katerina Mrazova – Minnesota Duluth
Blanka Skodova – Minnesota Duluth *
Head Coach Carla MacLeod – Wisconsin
 
SWEDEN (3 Current Players)
Josefin Bouveng – Minnesota *
Sofie Lundin – Ohio State *
Emma Soderberg – Minnesota Duluth *
 
HUNGARY (3 Players, 1 Current, 1 Future)
Emma Kreisz – Minnesota (Fall 2023)
Lotti Odnoga – St. Thomas *
Hayley Williams – Bemidji State
 
* active player