During the Finnish power play, the Czech goalkeeper Michaela Hesová took a shot from the left circle and faced Salonenová’s stop. However, she could not catch properly.
She came into contact with Keränen in the goal area. Although the Czech defender Slavíčková slightly pressed into the goalkeeper’s area at first, the Finnish attacker did not show any interest in leaving the goal area.
She dragged Hesová out of her ideal position and the Czech goalkeeper was already reaching for the stop in vain. Swedish referees Ida Henriksson and Veronica Lovensn pointed to the goal, but went to look at the video. But even after a few minutes of consultation, they did not cancel the controversial goal.
Czech hockey players can clearly feel wronged. “I won’t comment on the performance of the referees,” first coach Dušan Andrašovský told hokej.cz. But then he added: “It’s a tragedy. Nobody explained anything to us. I tried to communicate with the referees twice during the match, but they didn’t want to talk to me.” I saw several questionable moments there. It’s not about fouls, but rather about judging icings, offsides…” the coach criticized and returned to the key goal.
“I think that when the goalkeeper is contacted in the goal area at or just before the save, the goal should not count under the rules. If I saw it correctly in the replays. If I’m wrong, I’m sorry,” he added.
The Czechs still had more than five minutes to react, but they did not convert the chances during the power play and sadly bowed their heads after the match. Advancement to the semi-finals was within reach. And that despite the fact that they were losing from the 9th minute, when Salonenová scored for the first time.
The magic of the Finnish goalkeeper Kuja-Halkola was only broken at the beginning of the third period by Tereza Plosová, whose goal was followed up a few minutes later by a power shot by Linda Vocetková. However, the Suomi selection turned the score around with two goals in exactly 120 seconds and won 3:2.
“I saw a huge fear about the result. We made a few mistakes. We should have played actively and not been afraid. But I’m still proud of the team, he left his heart there,” added Andrašovský.
The tournament is not over yet for the Czech junior women, who were able to make it to the top four for the first time since 2015. On Saturday from 12:00, they will challenge Slovakia, another defeated quarter-finalist, in the fifth place match. The Finns will meet Canada in the semi-finals, the second pair consists of the USA and home country Sweden.
| Women’s Under-18 Ice Hockey World Championship in Östersund (Sweden): |
|---|
| Quarter Finals: |
| Finland – Czechia 3:2 (1:0, 0:0, 2:2) |
| Goals: 53rd and 55th Vanhanenová, 9th Salonenová – 41st Plosová, 47th Vocetková. |
| Sweden – Slovakia 6:1 (2:1, 2:0, 2:0) |
| Retention – 1st match: |
| Switzerland – Japan 5:0 (1:0, 0:0, 4:0). |
