A little more clarity was added to the WW18-I-A standings on Tuesday as Japan continued its winning ways, Hungary finally scored, and hosts Italy recovered to get back into the fight for promotion to the top level for next year.

Hungary 4-Denmark 0

The day’s program began with a battle between the two teams who came into the game with 0-2 records. Hungary hadn’t even scored a goal, but they changed that stat quickly when Reka Hiezl scored just 2:53 into the game. It was a sign of things to come.
 
Hungary outshot the Danes by a whopping 45-6 margin in the game, and along the way Hungarian forward Boglarka Bahiczki-Toth managed to record 12 shots on goal, exactly double the entire Danish total! She scored twice today, the first coming midway through the first to make it 2-0, and the second late in the game on a five-on-three.
 
And therein lay Denmark’s other problem—they incurred 41 of the 43 penalty minutes handed out by Swedish referee Sabina Kuller, including a major and game misconduct to Olivia Ranum late in the game for boarding.
 
Helga Milibak, starting her first game, recorded the shutout while Krisztina Weiler scored the other goal, on another power play in the third.

Japan 3-Austria 0

The game between winless opponents was followed by a game between undefeated teams, and the more experienced Japanese came out on top. Backed by Haruka Kuromaru’s 15-save shutout, her second consecutive blank sheet, Japan improved to 3-0 while Austria dropped to 2-1, giving the Japanese the inside track for promotion.
 
Japan took control of the game with two goals midway through the opening period, the first coming from Nana Akimoto, followed by Sophia Odermatt, with her second goal of the tournament. A dual Japanese-Swiss citizen, Odermatt has been playing with the Ontario Hockey Academy in Cornwall, Canada the last few years, honing her skills and developing into a top prospect for Japan.
 
Although Azumi Numabe added a third goal early in the third, Austria had a chance to get back into the game midway through the final period when Emma Lintner took a penalty shot. She was stopped by Kuromaru to keep the score 3-0, which is how it ended.

Italy 3-France 1

Italy rebounded from a loss on Sunday to defeat France and remain alive in their quest for promotion. They are now second in the standings with seven points, two behind Japan. The teams will play on Friday, the final day of the tournament, in a game that might well be the deciding factor. Today’s loss drops France to 1-2 and into a tie with Hungary for fourth place.
 
Teams exchanged early goals, Matilde Fantin notching her tournament-leading 6^th at 2:42 before Clemence Boudin tied it less than two minutes later. Manuela Hiedenberger, second in tournament scoring behind Fantin, put Italy ahead to stay midway through the first, and goalie Margherita Ostoni was perfect the rest of the way.
 
Italy added a goal in the second when Fantin potted her 7th, and France had trouble generating much offence, scoring only the one goal for the third straight game.
 
NOTES: Wednesday’s games include Hungary-Austria, Italy-Denmark, and France-Japan.