photo: Matt Zambonin/IIHF
The United States scored with abandon for a second straight day, defeating Czechia by a 9-1 score tonight in Membertou. It was another night of stats-happy glory for the team, which has now scored 22 goals in just two games.
The win gives the Americans top spot in Group B with a 2-0 record and six points. The Czechs and Slovaks are tied for second with three points, and Finland is in fourth at 0-2.
The Czechs finish their preliminary round on Tuesday with a critical game against Slovakia in the morning. That will be followed by a United States-Finland tilt in the afternoon.
Tonight's result is consistent with the WW18 history between the teams. Coming into the game, the U.S. had a perfect 13-0 record against the Czechs, with a whopping goals differential of 121-4.
Jane Daley led the attack tonight. She had a hat trick, her second in 24 hours, and added two assists. Teammate Kylie Amelkovich had a goal and two helpers. The two now co-lead the tournament in scoring with nine points each.
"I think it's ridiculous," said USA coach Courtney Kennedy. "Back-to-back games with hat tricks and, like, not accidental. Not like, you know, oopsies. Using her speed, using her ability. I think she's scary good. I think there's even more levels of her. I think there's a name you hear more of, but I also know that Jane doesn't do it for the individual glory. She's such a team player, and it just happens to be on her stick, and she does her pull-away speed, and she has an absolute missile of a shot. I feel bad for any goalie that's going to face it."
"We were good for first ten minutes," offered Czech coach Dusan Andrasovsky. "Then after the first goal, what we did on our power play, our game was destroyed, and our players started to play scared. I don't know why. We spoke about that. We tried to prepare girls about the speed. The gap is still huge between us and the North American teams, and you could see it. It's hard to say: they were better with every part of the game."
Indeed, the Czechs held their own with the Americans in the first half of the opening period. Although it took them nearly eleven minutes to get a shot, they played well in their own end and kept the U.S. to the outside. All of that changed, oddly, on a Czech power play. At a time when they might have gained a little momentum, it was the start of a four-goal outburst for the U.S.
IIHF Best Player Daley got to a puck inside her blue line and tore up the ice, blowing by two Czechs and going in alone on Lili Chmelarova. Daley beat her with a quick shot at 12:06, the short-handed goal opening the floodgates.
Daley did it again four minutes later. This time, she stole the puck off captain Julie Jebouskova, who was too casual coming out of her end. Daley went in alone, again, and shot under the blocker, again, for a 2-0 U.S. lead.
Just 33 seconds later, Amelkovich’s point shot went through traffic and beat Chmelarova. It was Amelkovich’s first goal of the tournament to go with her record six assists from yesterday’s 13-0 win over Slovakia.
They added a fourth goal late in the period on a power play. Talla Hansen snapped a high shot that went crossbar and in at 18:18, ending a disappointing period for the Czechs, which had started out with great hopes. But the Americans never stopped skating and playing with confidence, knowing it was a matter of time before the goals would come.
Andrasovsky opted to put in backup Veronika Ortova to start the second, and she allowed goals on the first two shots she faced. Using a delayed penalty to get an extra skater out, the Americans made it 5-0 when Maggie Averill went in alone and beat Ortova between the pads 22 seconds into the period.
Just 65 seconds later, on a power play of their own, the Czechs finally got on the board. Aneta Paroubkova whistled a nice shot high after a series of impressive passes on the rush to make it 5-1.
But the U.S. got that one back on a 2-on-1, Emily Pohl feeding Lindsay Stepnowski. She slid the puck under Ortova, and it trickled over the line. Goalie Bianca Birrittieri earned an assist on the play. Three minutes later, after consistent pressure, Jillian McLaughlin added to the U.S. tally, and Alaine Gnetz added a late goal to make it an 8-1 game through 40 minutes.
Daley completed her hat trick early in the third on another play almost identical to the first two, getting some space behind the defence and beating the goalie under the blocker.
"I'm pretty impressed they were able to put together two games like that," Kennedy added. "It's tiring, the effort they're putting in and what we're asking them to do. Czechia is very good and dangerous and individually skilled. They're unbelievable, and I know they're well coached. So to see this team handle when it was felt tight and get our feet going and still be able to deliver and get it done and deliver in bunches and pull away, is very impressive, especially at a tournament when you're just a kid. I think they're even learning more and more of belief in themselves and what they're capable of every minute."
The win gives the Americans top spot in Group B with a 2-0 record and six points. The Czechs and Slovaks are tied for second with three points, and Finland is in fourth at 0-2.
The Czechs finish their preliminary round on Tuesday with a critical game against Slovakia in the morning. That will be followed by a United States-Finland tilt in the afternoon.
Tonight's result is consistent with the WW18 history between the teams. Coming into the game, the U.S. had a perfect 13-0 record against the Czechs, with a whopping goals differential of 121-4.
Jane Daley led the attack tonight. She had a hat trick, her second in 24 hours, and added two assists. Teammate Kylie Amelkovich had a goal and two helpers. The two now co-lead the tournament in scoring with nine points each.
"I think it's ridiculous," said USA coach Courtney Kennedy. "Back-to-back games with hat tricks and, like, not accidental. Not like, you know, oopsies. Using her speed, using her ability. I think she's scary good. I think there's even more levels of her. I think there's a name you hear more of, but I also know that Jane doesn't do it for the individual glory. She's such a team player, and it just happens to be on her stick, and she does her pull-away speed, and she has an absolute missile of a shot. I feel bad for any goalie that's going to face it."
"We were good for first ten minutes," offered Czech coach Dusan Andrasovsky. "Then after the first goal, what we did on our power play, our game was destroyed, and our players started to play scared. I don't know why. We spoke about that. We tried to prepare girls about the speed. The gap is still huge between us and the North American teams, and you could see it. It's hard to say: they were better with every part of the game."
Indeed, the Czechs held their own with the Americans in the first half of the opening period. Although it took them nearly eleven minutes to get a shot, they played well in their own end and kept the U.S. to the outside. All of that changed, oddly, on a Czech power play. At a time when they might have gained a little momentum, it was the start of a four-goal outburst for the U.S.
IIHF Best Player Daley got to a puck inside her blue line and tore up the ice, blowing by two Czechs and going in alone on Lili Chmelarova. Daley beat her with a quick shot at 12:06, the short-handed goal opening the floodgates.
Daley did it again four minutes later. This time, she stole the puck off captain Julie Jebouskova, who was too casual coming out of her end. Daley went in alone, again, and shot under the blocker, again, for a 2-0 U.S. lead.
Just 33 seconds later, Amelkovich’s point shot went through traffic and beat Chmelarova. It was Amelkovich’s first goal of the tournament to go with her record six assists from yesterday’s 13-0 win over Slovakia.
They added a fourth goal late in the period on a power play. Talla Hansen snapped a high shot that went crossbar and in at 18:18, ending a disappointing period for the Czechs, which had started out with great hopes. But the Americans never stopped skating and playing with confidence, knowing it was a matter of time before the goals would come.
Andrasovsky opted to put in backup Veronika Ortova to start the second, and she allowed goals on the first two shots she faced. Using a delayed penalty to get an extra skater out, the Americans made it 5-0 when Maggie Averill went in alone and beat Ortova between the pads 22 seconds into the period.
Just 65 seconds later, on a power play of their own, the Czechs finally got on the board. Aneta Paroubkova whistled a nice shot high after a series of impressive passes on the rush to make it 5-1.
But the U.S. got that one back on a 2-on-1, Emily Pohl feeding Lindsay Stepnowski. She slid the puck under Ortova, and it trickled over the line. Goalie Bianca Birrittieri earned an assist on the play. Three minutes later, after consistent pressure, Jillian McLaughlin added to the U.S. tally, and Alaine Gnetz added a late goal to make it an 8-1 game through 40 minutes.
Daley completed her hat trick early in the third on another play almost identical to the first two, getting some space behind the defence and beating the goalie under the blocker.
"I'm pretty impressed they were able to put together two games like that," Kennedy added. "It's tiring, the effort they're putting in and what we're asking them to do. Czechia is very good and dangerous and individually skilled. They're unbelievable, and I know they're well coached. So to see this team handle when it was felt tight and get our feet going and still be able to deliver and get it done and deliver in bunches and pull away, is very impressive, especially at a tournament when you're just a kid. I think they're even learning more and more of belief in themselves and what they're capable of every minute."
USA vs Czechia - 2026 IIHF U18 Women's Worlds Championship
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