The third day of the World Championship kicked off with a thrilling shootout between Latvia and Denmark. Although the Latvians showed great fighting spirit and even led twice in the match, the Danes managed to turn the game around and secure their first much-desired victory. Victory has also Germany, Netherlands, Finland, Estonia or Norway.
Latvia – Denmark 4:6 (1:1, 2:3, 1:2)
The players from Latvia and Denmark provided a truly thrilling show. Both teams were still waiting for their first win on the tournament, and their thirst for victory was visible on both sides. The heroines of the first period were the goalies of both teams. Estere Elbrete played for the Baltic state, while the Danish coach bet on Liv Petersen after yesterday’s change. Both goalies faced a lot of pressure and made several excellent saves. The Latvians were the first to celebrate after a sharp shot by Evelīna Garbare, but the Danes managed to equalize before the end of the period. The start of the second period followed a similar scenario, with the Latvians leading, but the Danes managed to turn the game around thanks to Sofia Frederiksen and Esther Juul Thomsen and remained in the lead until the end of the match.
Germany – Singapur 19:0 (7:0, 6:0, 6:0)
The match began in a great atmosphere, with primary school pupils in the stands cheering from the warm-up as if it were a World Championship final. Germany started strongly and were 4-0 ahead by the eighth minute, finishing the first period with a 7-0 lead. The second period looked very similar. Germany kept pushing, while Singapore created only a few rare chances. The Germans added six more goals, making it 13-0 after two periods. In the final period, Anna-Lena Best completed her hat-trick and the European team comfortably won 19-0. Germany won Group D with a full set of points and can look forward to the round of 16. Singapore finished last with zero points and will play in the placement round for 13th place.
Netherlands – Japan 7:5 (2:0, 4:2, 1:3)
A thrilling spectacle unfolded in the clash between the Netherlands and Japan. The Orange women led 4-0 early in the second period, with Jasmina Van der Veen shining with a hat-trick before later being named player of the game. The Japanese side, however, refused to give up and cut the deficit to two goals. Within three minutes, the Netherlands reclaimed their lost four-goal lead. Japan entered the final twenty minutes determined to turn the unfavorable score around. They managed to make it 5:6 from their perspective and even pushed for an equalizer. They ultimately fell short, and the Dutch victory was sealed twenty-three seconds before the final buzzer by Marissa Meijer.
Poland – Finland 1:18 (1:5, 0:6, 0:7)
In the second game of the day in the main arena, Finland faced Poland. The Poles surprisingly struck first just two minutes in after a beautifully worked team play. Finland, however, quickly responded, launching a series of sharp passes and well-built attacks. During a power play, team superstar Veera Kauppi found the net, sparking a full turnaround and the start of Finnish dominance. After the opening period, Finland were already leading 5-1. The second period continued in the same spirit. The Suomi players kept the momentum and scored almost at will, adding six more goals to extend their lead to 11-1. Finland entered the third period in a more relaxed rhythm, controlling the game without taking unnecessary risks. Even so, they scored seven additional goals and finished the group stage with a convincing victory. Unless something unexpected happens in the match between Sweden and Slovakia, Finland will place second in the group and advance directly to the quarter-finals. Poland finished bottom of the group and will play Norway tomorrow in a play-off for a spot in the quarter-finals.
USA – Estonia 0:10 (0:1, 0:4, 0:5)
The arena was filled with the celebratory goal song Welcome to Estonia a total of ten times. Estonia could have started the game much stronger if they had managed to convert a penalty shot in the second minute. However, they did not have to regret it for long. Reelika Liiv opened the scoring in the first period. The Estonians entered the second period with the smallest possible lead, but increased it to 5-0 with the help of excellent saves by Saskia Ormak. The Americans tried changing goalies twice, but it did not protect them from the Estonian goal avalanche. The fifth meeting between the two teams ended, like all previous ones, with a victory for the Estonian players.
Norway – Australia 10:0 (6:0, 3:0, 1:0)
Norway dominated the match from the opening minutes and in the first period alone it built a six-goal lead. This was increased by a perfect individual action by Kine Hedlund Eriksen right at the start of the second period, when she waited behind the Australian defense and after a long pass across the entire field, she got into an independent escape, in which she was not mistaken. Despite the unfavorable score, the Australians often tried to erase zero from their account and threatened several times in front of the Norwegian goal. However, instead of scoring in the opponent’s cage, the Australian floorball players scored a goal in their own and thus helped Norway to an even higher result. Despite the fact that Australia lost 0:10, her players did not forget to give their opponents a small gift in the form of a key ring during the final handshake – a beautiful gesture.
Sweden – Slovakia 15:1 (2:0, 2:0, 11:1)
The last match of the group stage was played between Sweden and Slovakia. The Swedes had to wait a while to open the scoring after yesterday’s scoring spree, but in the end they put on a show worthy of multiple champions. Emelie Wibron broke the record for points scored against Poland and today showed with three assists that she is not done yet. Maja Viström celebrated her 50th appearance for the national team in style with a power play goal in the second period. The goal barrage earned the Swedes first place in the group. As a result of the opening draw, they have the same number of points as Finland, but they took first place thanks to the number of goals scored and also have fewer goals conceded than their Nordic rivals.