Austria 2-France 1

The Austrians scored first, built a 2-0 lead, and held on for the victory in the opening game of WW18 Division I-A in Italy. It was a closely contested match from start to finish that featured only one minor penalty to each side, both in the third period after the scoring had been done.
 
Austria got on the board first when Isabel Friess scored at 18:33 of the first, and after an uneventful second, captain Anna Billa, named Best Player of the game, made it 2-0 early in the third. But just as it seemed the Austrians were in control, Armelle Chabert replied for France, just 51 second after Billa’s goal. That was as close as France would get, though.
 
Late penalties, one to each team, didn’t add to the scoresheet, and Austria, which finished 5^th at last year’s tournament, earned a critical three points in the standings.

Japan 4-Denmark 1

Opposites collided in the second game of the opening day of play. Japan, which had played at the top level in 2023 before being demoted, faced off against Denmark, which had finished first in Division I-B and earned promotion to I-A for 2024. It wasn’t particularly close, however. Japan scored after just 82 seconds of play and skated to a comfortable victory, outshooting the Danes, 43-12.
 
Olivia Ranum, who led all players with five shots in the game, opened the scoring at 1:22, but Denmark tied the game four minutes later when Sophia Odermatt connected. This was as close as Denmark would get. Two minutes later, Ayana Homma made it 2-1 for the Japanese, and at 12:39 captain Kohane Sato extended the lead to 3-1.
 
Denmark had their chances to get back into the game in the second, earning three straight power play opportunities, but the Japanese penalty killers were flawless. Natsuki Okumura added a fourth goal midway through the third for Japan to seal the victory. The Japanese have two 14-year-olds on their roster, Nana Akimoto and Lily Sato.

Italy 4-Hungary 0

Hosts Italy, who narrowly missed promotion last year, kicked off their tournament with a sound 4-0 win over Hungary. Eighteen-year-old Margherita Ostoni stopped 27 shots to record the shutout while Matilde Fanti had a hat trick in front of her. Despite winning, the Italians had only 16 shots on goal.
 
After killing off an early penalty Manuela Heidenberger opened the scoring at 9:06 of the first, a pattern that repeated itself in the second when they killed off another minor before Fantini made it 2-0. Fantini added her second midway through the period and completed her hat trick with an empty-net goal and Noemi Takacs on the bench for a sixth skater.

UP NEXT

Tomorrow’s slate of games begins with France-Denmark, followed by Italy-Austria and Japan-Hungary. All games are being played at the Wurtharena Sportarena Unterland just south of Bolzano.