Finland’s Emma Ekoluoma has had another great start to this year’s championship. The 17-year-old, who plays club hockey with her Karpat Oulu team, scored two hat tricks in two games. Not bad for a player in her first IIHF tournament.
In fact, Ecoluoma has a chance to equal the women’s U18 record. In 2012 American Hayley Scarpa scored a hat trick in each of her first three matches. But the Finnish forward will need to score three goals against defending champion Canada to match that, which won’t be easy.
Meanwhile, team captain Tuuri Tarinen contributed with three assists, earning praise from Abigail Vizcata, who scored two goals of her own in the third period.
“She’s just a leader,” Vizcata said of Tarinen. “She knows how to run a team and she’s a great player. She’s a good example for us.
”[She and Ekoluoma] Trust each other. They continue to play for the team and find passes. ”
Despite suffering another crushing defeat, the Germans showed their true colors after suffering a heartbreaking 11-0 loss to Canada last night. They were back on the ice less than 24 hours later and defended hard to keep the scoreline respectable throughout the long game. Starting goalkeeper Hanna Roist was once again busy, but made some big saves to keep Finland from running away until the end of the game.
“I think we worked together pretty well as a team,” said the goalie, who made 40 saves in the game. “We had a little too many penalties, so it made it a little difficult.”
This was especially important after the Finns took an early lead. Erika Kankkunen set up Senja Sivonen for a one-time goal in the opening four minutes, denying Loist a chance. Finland continued to have the upper hand, but this time the German defense was also ready to counter. Roist made a particularly eye-catching stick save to deny Erika Sekkinen, allowing the Finnish forward to poke the puck away as it cleared cleanly through the German net.
Late in the opening session, Ekuruoma doubled his country’s lead by sending a pass from Nelly Anderson top shelf, underscoring his scoring prowess. That pressure continued in the second period, with Finland leading 15-3 in shots at the break.
However, while Canada scored multiple goals in the midfield in last night’s game, today was different. Germany couldn’t completely stop Finland’s onslaught, but they were able to keep the puck out of the net. Roist made 13 saves, frustrating the Finnish forwards and keeping them in the game.
“I thought the second period was good, and after that we were probably satisfied and thought, ‘Okay, we’re going to go on the power play for the third period,'” head coach Jeff McLeod said. “I thought there was a good opportunity here.”
However, that power play didn’t work. In the third period, Finland continued to press and Germany began to tire. As time passed, the goals piled up. Ekoluoma scored his second goal in the 46th minute, converting a 5-on-3 power play. Linemate Abigail Vizcata then potted two more, with Ecoluoma assisting on the second. Her hat trick goal came with four minutes remaining, when she scored another clinical snipe from the base of the right circle to open the power play and make the final score 6-0.
That meant frustration for the German national team coach. “We’re a little upset about that. [Loist] “She did what she was supposed to do and we didn’t support her,” McLeod added. “The third period should have been better from our side, but she played great. “There is,” he added.
After winning the first two games, Finland head coach Mila Kuisma admitted it will only get tougher from here, with a showdown with Canada coming up on Tuesday.
“To be honest, this game didn’t really prepare me for Tuesday,” she said. “But we know what’s going to happen. So we’ll talk more about that tomorrow.”
Germany will continue their match against the Czech Republic, aiming for their first win in the group stage.