No doubt about it, there was an overwhelming sense of tension and great excitement heading into today’s action in Bremerhaven. Indeed, the final game of the tournament pit Germany against Hungary for a winner-takes-all final of the Group I Olympic Qualifying Games and the two teams came out of the gates scratching and clawing for every centimeter of ice, each clearly hesitant to make any crucial mistakes.
Despite several golden opportunities along the way, goaltenders Sandra Abstreiter and Aniko Nemeth warded off 5 and 8 shots respectively in the first period, each keeping their teams track records clean. It wasn’t until a power play at the 7:03 mark of the second period that the ice would be broken when Lilli Welcke carried the puck from the top of the right face-off circle, down around the opposition goal, and over the left side of the goal before slinging a shot past Nemeth’s right foot on the short side corner at the 7:39 mark.
Alas, only 13 seconds later, German defender Ronja Hark took a penalty for an illegal check and at the 8:49 mark, a wonderful tick-tack-toe play between Lotti Odnoga, Reka Hiezl, and then eventually Mira Seregely saw Hungary tie things up after Seregely caught a laser of a pass, deked out a sliding Abstreiter from left to right, and potted a backhander in the lower right-hand corner of the net.
The battle would continue to be a tight one until 3:34 into the third period when Luisa Welcke pounced on a Katarina Jobst-Smith shot to give Germany a 2-1 lead they’d cling onto tooth and nail into the waning moments of the contest. For Jobst-Smith, it was her second helper of the game.
But things would take a strange turn in the dying moments of the contest.
Hungarian coach Pat Cortina pulled his goalie with just under two minutes to go and watched his team put on the pressure, spending the majority of the final 2 minutes of the game in the German zone. Team Germany blocked some shots and passes here and there but just couldn’t get the puck cleanly out of the zone, eventually having to ice it with just 12 seconds to go. The ensuing face-off led to a scrum along the left corner boards and as the crowd counted down the final seconds of the game, the puck somehow slipped down below the goal line and was passed straight into the slot where Hungarian defender Taylor Baker punched a shot through Abstreiter’s five hole.
The Germans stormed their net in victory while the Hungarians started jumping in celebration as they crowded around Taylor.
After having initially recognized the goal, the team of referees huddled up and then eventually headed over to the statisticians' box to point out that the goal had taken place after the clock had run out.
Officially, the party had started for team Germany.
“This intensity was to be expected. It’s a bit of a heated rivalry and both teams were here to win. I can’t say enough about our staff and our players, and how everyone fought for this. It’s amazing,” explained coach MacLeod shortly after the national anthem was played.
His team sure did have to buckle down, find a way to take a lead, and then ward off a heavy attack in this oh so important final match.
“Our leadership showed the way. Our leadership stepped up in the locker room and calmed everyone down for the third period,” MacLeod continued. “And this is what happens. This is one big hurdle. I mean, this is one big step. As a staff, we came together and asked for something from these players. And now they’ve given what we asked for.”
Captain Daria Gleissner, who was injured and missed out on the qualification tournament four years earlier, was absolutely elated, “We worked hard. We got the things done that we had to get done. We kept it simple. We got the puck deep. We kept getting the puck to the goal. At the same time, we were resolute and stable in our zone, and I am so unbelievably proud of this team and that we did everything we needed to do to achieve this.”
The nature of the games Germany and Hungary have played for several years now had shown that this would be a tight one and likely low scoring. That proved to be the case, and it meant some cool heads and hopefully a pair of cool hands would be required to decide it.
“We knew we’re the better team. We told ourselves that we just have to keep calm and do our thing. We’re gonna make it. And that’s what we did,” said Luisa Welcke - author of the game-winner - confidently, keeping cool as usual. “Making it to the Olympics has been a dream of mine since my childhood and I’m just plain ecstatic right now that we’ve done it and that this dream is going to come true.”
For the German Ice Hockey Federation, this victory equates to a further step in the development of its women’s program, one that has been moving along slowly, but surely, for the past decade - and especially in recent months.
“The entire team surrounding coach Jeff MacLeod has been working meticulously to face this incredible challenge and was optimally prepared to do so. For this reason, we’re all the happier that this hard work has paid off and that we, as a team, were both physically and mentally ready for this situation. For women’s hockey in Germany, this is an important day that goes above and beyond the achievement of qualifying for the Olympics,” emphasized DEB sports director Christian Künast.
For Hungary, a team that’ll surely relive and analyze those final moments of the game numerous times in the coming days, this loss will surely leave a deep dent.
“I feel really, really sorry for the girls. I’ve always said that this is a very special group of young ladies, of hockey players,” said head coach Pat Cortina, still visibly shaken by what took place in the final seconds of the event. “This is the type of game that could’ve gone either way. I’m so, so very proud of how our players battled. They gave it their all.”
Summarizing the importance of the victory, Germany’s Head of Women’s Hockey, Ronja Jenike, stated, “The Olympics are the ne plus ultra. You naturally want to be part of that - perhaps more than anything else. We didn’t get to be part of it in 2020 and now we’re absolutely ecstatic about being part of it next year. It’s a testament to the work we’ve done and the path we’re on. But we had incredible support tonight and there’s always that glimmer of hope and belief that a whole bunch of young ladies and girls in attendance and watching on television will be inspired to become part of the next wave of future Olympians, an aspect that will continue to motivate us this time next year as well.”
Team Germany will celebrate tonight. For certain.
And then the next 12 months of concentrated work will begin in preparation for what this weekend was all about, namely their shot at Olympic glory.
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Teams Austria and Slovakia battled for third place in the day’s early match, both having already been eliminated from qualification yesterday. Austria clearly let go of some frustration, skating and shooting its way to a convincing 8-2 victory. Defender Anika Fazokas (2-4-6) and forward Theresa Schafzahl (3-2-5) led the way with outstanding performances, which also saw finishing first and second overall in tournament scoring, respectively.
Along with Hungary, both teams will be spectators during next winter’s Olympics, knowing that Germany was able to make this very event in Bremerhaven one of significant importance for its entire women’s ice hockey program.