photo: © International Ice Hockey Federation / André Ringuette
In a dramatic ending, Yingying Guan was the hero as China defeated Japan 3-2 in a shootout at the 2024 IIHF Women's World Championship in Utica, New York.
Japan got on the scoreboard first as Shiga's backhanded shot blew past Chinese goaltender Jiahui Zhan and into the top of the net at 15:48 of the first period.
Shiga came close to scoring her second goal of the game on the powerplay halfway through the period. She blasted a shot to the net where the 17-year old Chinese netminder made the save. On the rebound, Japan could not bury the puck into the net. As they continued to pressure near the net, Zhan held her own and Japan could not capitalize on the powerplay.
With 1:27 remaining, defender Kohane Sato had lots of room to launch a one-timer towards the net; however, Zhan denied her.
In the second period, Japan continued their aggressive play. Haruka Toko fed a backhanded pass to Rui Ukita who was knocking on the door right in front of the net. She tried to put the puck into the net softly, but Zhan stuck her glove down to make the save 4:29 into the period.
With 12:38 remaining in the period, Makoto Ito ripped a shot towards the net. Shiga recovered the rebound, but was unable to corvert it into a score.
China went on the powerplay and had a couple of great chances to get the equalizer. Yue Qu tried to take the shot right in front of the net, but was not successful at beating Zhan. Then, Xin Fang's wrist shot fell short of the net.
Akane Shiga sprinted to the net and tried to go toe-to-toe with Zhan. On the rebound, Shiga tried another attempt to score but could not get it past the Chinese goaltender with 4:40 remaining in the period.
With 2:15 left, China got their first goal of the tournament. Japan forced a turnover in their zone and China rushed down the ice on a 2-on-1 chance. Jinglei Yang blasted the shot towards the net and the puck rolled behind the Miyuu Masuhara and into the net to give China the equalizer.
Japan would take the lead in the third period. The play began with defender Aoi Shiga throwing the puck towards the net. On the way, Akane Shiga played decoy and touched the puck just enough so it reached Ito. On the rebound from the goal post, Ito buried the puck for the score.
Four minutes later, China responded as the puck came across the ice for Guan who got it past Zhan for the equalizer.
China had an opportunity to take the lead on as the team went on the powerplay after Yoshito Enomoto took a boarding penalty. With 7:50 remaining in the game, Guan's shot richochet just wide of the net.
With 5:20 remaining in the game, Akane Shiga had a golden opportunity as she wrapped around the net and tried to tap it into the net but Zhan stretched out to make the save.
Japan kept on pressing for the go-ahead goal in China's zone and created a lot of traffic near the net, but Zhan kept her composure and focus to force the game to overtime.
During overtime, Japan had a number of chances but could not covert it into a goal. The 3-on-3 overtime did not solve anything so the game went into a shootout to decide the outcome.
In the shootout, Guan was the hero for China as she scored the lone goal between the two teams.
"I kind of looked at the previous shooter and how the goalie will react," Gaun says. "The goalie is not that big and pretty small and I backed down a little quicker. That's my go-to spot. I saw it open and I took the shot."
Zhan felt the pressure throughout the game from Japan as she faced 52 shots on goal.
The game marked China's debut in Group B at Women's Worlds, promoted after winning the IIHF Women's Division 1A Championship at home. China has been on a natural progression for the last couple of years to get to this point. In 2022, the team finally broke through after playing in Division 1B since 2011.
The team has a lot of youth with eight new players on the roster and six players suiting up on the senior roster for the first time.
"This is definitely a confidence booster for our team," Guan said. "Our team has a bunch of younger players on and it definitely draws confidence into the program as well."
For China, this is an exciting way to begin the Women's World Championship. The team will look for their second win as they battle Sweden on Friday April 5th.
"The first game of the tournament and first week of the tournament, everybody, including coaching staff and the team players are all very excited, and we've worked so hard for this too," Guan says.
Japan will square off against Germany on Saturday April 6th in the hopes to secure their first win.
"We are just going to think about the next game, try to move on and winning the next game," Akane Shiga says.
Japan got on the scoreboard first as Shiga's backhanded shot blew past Chinese goaltender Jiahui Zhan and into the top of the net at 15:48 of the first period.
Shiga came close to scoring her second goal of the game on the powerplay halfway through the period. She blasted a shot to the net where the 17-year old Chinese netminder made the save. On the rebound, Japan could not bury the puck into the net. As they continued to pressure near the net, Zhan held her own and Japan could not capitalize on the powerplay.
With 1:27 remaining, defender Kohane Sato had lots of room to launch a one-timer towards the net; however, Zhan denied her.
In the second period, Japan continued their aggressive play. Haruka Toko fed a backhanded pass to Rui Ukita who was knocking on the door right in front of the net. She tried to put the puck into the net softly, but Zhan stuck her glove down to make the save 4:29 into the period.
With 12:38 remaining in the period, Makoto Ito ripped a shot towards the net. Shiga recovered the rebound, but was unable to corvert it into a score.
China went on the powerplay and had a couple of great chances to get the equalizer. Yue Qu tried to take the shot right in front of the net, but was not successful at beating Zhan. Then, Xin Fang's wrist shot fell short of the net.
Akane Shiga sprinted to the net and tried to go toe-to-toe with Zhan. On the rebound, Shiga tried another attempt to score but could not get it past the Chinese goaltender with 4:40 remaining in the period.
With 2:15 left, China got their first goal of the tournament. Japan forced a turnover in their zone and China rushed down the ice on a 2-on-1 chance. Jinglei Yang blasted the shot towards the net and the puck rolled behind the Miyuu Masuhara and into the net to give China the equalizer.
Japan would take the lead in the third period. The play began with defender Aoi Shiga throwing the puck towards the net. On the way, Akane Shiga played decoy and touched the puck just enough so it reached Ito. On the rebound from the goal post, Ito buried the puck for the score.
Four minutes later, China responded as the puck came across the ice for Guan who got it past Zhan for the equalizer.
China had an opportunity to take the lead on as the team went on the powerplay after Yoshito Enomoto took a boarding penalty. With 7:50 remaining in the game, Guan's shot richochet just wide of the net.
With 5:20 remaining in the game, Akane Shiga had a golden opportunity as she wrapped around the net and tried to tap it into the net but Zhan stretched out to make the save.
Japan kept on pressing for the go-ahead goal in China's zone and created a lot of traffic near the net, but Zhan kept her composure and focus to force the game to overtime.
During overtime, Japan had a number of chances but could not covert it into a goal. The 3-on-3 overtime did not solve anything so the game went into a shootout to decide the outcome.
In the shootout, Guan was the hero for China as she scored the lone goal between the two teams.
"I kind of looked at the previous shooter and how the goalie will react," Gaun says. "The goalie is not that big and pretty small and I backed down a little quicker. That's my go-to spot. I saw it open and I took the shot."
Zhan felt the pressure throughout the game from Japan as she faced 52 shots on goal.
The game marked China's debut in Group B at Women's Worlds, promoted after winning the IIHF Women's Division 1A Championship at home. China has been on a natural progression for the last couple of years to get to this point. In 2022, the team finally broke through after playing in Division 1B since 2011.
The team has a lot of youth with eight new players on the roster and six players suiting up on the senior roster for the first time.
"This is definitely a confidence booster for our team," Guan said. "Our team has a bunch of younger players on and it definitely draws confidence into the program as well."
For China, this is an exciting way to begin the Women's World Championship. The team will look for their second win as they battle Sweden on Friday April 5th.
"The first game of the tournament and first week of the tournament, everybody, including coaching staff and the team players are all very excited, and we've worked so hard for this too," Guan says.
Japan will square off against Germany on Saturday April 6th in the hopes to secure their first win.
"We are just going to think about the next game, try to move on and winning the next game," Akane Shiga says.