Josie St. Martin scored two quick first-period goals to spark the U.S. to a 4-0 win over Germany in Thursday's last quarter-final. Final shots were 58-7, reflecting the American advantages in skill, speed, and physicality.

On Saturday, coach Liz Keady Norton's team will face Finland in semi-final action, while the Germans battle host Switzerland to avoid relegation. The other semi-final pits two-time defending champion Canada against the Czechs.

"I'm excited," Norton said. "I think we have a really good, cohesive group with a lot of people who can do a lot of different things. It's nice to have a toolbox like that."

The Americans hold the all-time record for most IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship gold medals (eight). They last won gold in 2020. Last year, they claimed the bronze medal by blanking Finland 5-0 after a surprising 2-1 semi-final loss to Sweden.
 

Newly promoted Germany has lost four straight games by an aggregate of 27-1. However, the Germans always give Switzerland a good fight, and this seventh-place game should be no exception. In WW18 competition, Germany has the all-time edge over Switzerland with five wins and four losses dating back to 2009.

"It's going to be a battle," said German coach Jeff MacLeod. "We hope we saved our best for last. When our coaching staff looks at how we've improved, I'd say that we're a lot more confident than we were at the start of the tournament. So we're really looking forward to it. I'm sure the Swiss are too."

In net, the U.S.’s Natalia Dilbone, a 2008-born goalie from South Lyon, Michigan, made her U18 Women’s Worlds debut with a shutout. (This was a good day for netminders overall as three out of four quarter-finals ended in shutouts.) German backup Miriam Siebert got her first start after replacing Hannah Loist midway through the 11-0 opening loss to Canada.

Just 1:04 in, St. Martin got the party started with a fluky goal. After getting the puck from Jordyn Petrie, the U.S. assistant captain, playing her third U18 Women's Worlds, threw it in front and it bounced in, surprising both Siebert and the backchecking Anastasia Gruss.

"I was practicing that a little bit on the power play, just kind of as another option," St. Martin said. "So the bounce went my way, and I'm thankful for that. But it started with my linemates."

There was nothing fluky about St. Martin’s next goal at 4:00.  She cut through the German defenders like a race car at top speed and went high backhand for her fourth of the tournament.

The Germans had fleeting glimmers of hope in the first period. Siebert stopped Ava Thomas on a breakaway, and Hannah Hoppe just misfired on a rebound with a gaping net. Only trailing 2-0 was not bad after being outshot 20-1 through 20 minutes.

At 1:45 of the second period, Haley Box made it 3-0 on a crafty U.S. set play. On an offensive-zone faceoff, Morgan McGathey slipped the puck through Mathilde Heine's legs and slipped it over to the unguarded Box at the crease.

"I just told 'Boxy' before when I was going to do, and I was lucky to have her on my side to finish it off," McGathey said.

Siebert kept battling, robbing Margaret Averill with a right pad save on a 2-on-1. Her German teammates checked doggedly. The U.S. took a couple of careless penalties for slashing sticks out of their opponents' hands late in the frame, and Germany enjoyed a 32-second 5-on-3. Unfortunately, they weren't able to cash in.

At 6:49 of the third period, captain Maggie Scannell made it 4-0, going top shelf for her third goal of these U18 Women's Worlds. The U.S. kept peppering Siebert, but she stood her ground.

"It's great as a coach to have goaltending that strong, competing right to the final buzzer no matter what the score is," MacLeod said. "It was amazing. We didn't see any fatigue really hitting her. There was a lot of play in our zone, and it's not just about the number of shots. It's the play where the goalie is going side to side, up and down. That's hard on them as well. But we saw that she fought right to the end with energy."

This was Germany's lowest margin of defeat ever versus the Americans. There were only two previous meetings. In an 11-0 American romp in 2009, Amanda Kessel and Madison Packer each put up three points. Haley Skarupa and Maryanne Kennedy-Menefee both scored twice as the U.S. won 7-1 in 2012.