Czechia #12 Klara Hymlarova fires home the opening goal against Switzerland at the 2025 IIHF Women's World Championship in Ceske Budejovice.
photo: © INTERNATIONAL ICE HOCKEY FEDERATION / ANDREA CARDIN
Czechia showed no sign of opening night nerves, beginning its 2025 Women’s World Championship campaign with a decisive victory over Switzerland.
An early goal from Klara Hymlarova gave the host nation the perfect start. Kristyna Kaltounkova doubled the advantage late in the opening frame and Tereza Pistekova added a third in the middle stanza to put the Czechs in control. At the other end, Klara Peslarova stood up well in the face of a determined Swiss offence, laying the foundations for a 3-0 victory with 26 saves.
There was a buzz around Ceske Budejovice ahead of Czechia’s opener. A capacity crowd of 5,859 generated an electric atmosphere in the arena as the local heroes took on Switzerland at the start of a campaign that comes with high hopes of hardware.
From the opening face-off, there was plenty of noise. A pounding drum drove the home team forwards and every foray into Swiss territory pushed the roar of the crowd up another notch.
And the players thrived on the sense of occasion. It took less than five minutes for the Czechs to make a breakthrough when Hymlarova fired home a one-timer from the inside edge of the right-hand circle to finish off a quick counterattack involving Andrea Trnkova and Natalie Mlynkova.
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Hymlarova plays for the Minnesota Frost and is one of nine PWHL players on the Czech team here. The 26-year-old is back for her eighth Worlds and already owns two bronze medals. But a pumped-up celebration showed how much it meant to score for her country on home ice.
Goalscorers tend to insist that it isn’t important who finds the net, but Hymlarova admitted this one was special. “It’s a dream come true, a big moment,” she said. “It doesn’t matter who scores the goal but it felt great. I didn’t have my best season this year, but this is big and I’m just excited to be here in front of a home crowd.”
And there was more first-period joy to come in the final minute of session when Kristyna Kaltounova – making her World Championship debut here – marked the occasion with a power play goal to double the lead. It took Czechia just 13 seconds to convert its first PP of the day.
However, Switzerland was not overawed. There were chances at both ends, with Klara Peslarova making a smart stop to deny the dangerous Lara Stalder in a one-on-one midway through the session. The Swiss also had the first power play of the evening, but struggled to press the Czech penalty kill on that occasion.
“We wanted to keep them off the board longer in the first,” reflected Swiss captain Lara Stalder. “We knew they wanted to come out really hard to get the crowd going and they did.
“But I feel like we bounced back. We had our chances and if we put one in then it’s 1-1 instead of 2-0 at the intermission. It’s still the beginning of the tournament. We need to capitalize on our chances; we created them and that’s the big positive we take out of this.”
“Both teams played a really good game, Switzerland as well,” acknowledged Czech goalie Peslarova. “It was really up and down, it was about who was going to score that next goal. Luckily we built the lead and Even though Switzerland pushed us all the game we managed to keep the puck out of the net.”
The Swiss also had a good opportunity early in the second when Alina Muller and Rahel Enzler got a two-on-one break. Muller carried the puck into the Czech zone and opted to shoot, but Peslarova got behind it and a big rebound skittered past Enzler to safety.
But if the Swiss traded in chances, the Czechs dealt in goals. After seven minutes of the second period, it was 3-0: Vendula Pribylova circled the Swiss zone and got the first of two deflections on a point shot from Trnkova. The second touch, from Pistekova, left unsighted goalie Andrea Braendli stranded.
By now the crowd was literally bouncing, and Czechia was close to a fourth goal when Plosova smacked a shot into the post. Then Michaela Pejzlova showed some great stick-handling to weave through the Swiss defence, only to be denied by Braendli's pads.
At the other end, the Swiss still posed a threat. Peslarova had to be alert in the 53rd minute to snuff out a big chance for Laura Zimmermann get her team back into the game.
Meanwhile the fourth goal that the crowd craved would not come. There were scrambles in front of Braendli, with Kaltounkova notably close to her second of the night. Then the Swiss netminder robbed Pejzlova from close range when the net seemed to be at the Czech forward's mercy.
Tempers frayed in the closing stages and the crowd's enjoyment was briefly diluted by the prospect of a Swiss power play. But some big blocked shots by Kaltounkova turned the jeers back to cheers - and impressed Peslarova with the effort from her team-mates.
“It was a real team effort,” Peslarova said. “Immediately after the game I went to Kristyna (Kaltounkova) and thanked her. They put a lot of pressure on is, she blocked 3-4 shots and that was really big for us.”
An early goal from Klara Hymlarova gave the host nation the perfect start. Kristyna Kaltounkova doubled the advantage late in the opening frame and Tereza Pistekova added a third in the middle stanza to put the Czechs in control. At the other end, Klara Peslarova stood up well in the face of a determined Swiss offence, laying the foundations for a 3-0 victory with 26 saves.
There was a buzz around Ceske Budejovice ahead of Czechia’s opener. A capacity crowd of 5,859 generated an electric atmosphere in the arena as the local heroes took on Switzerland at the start of a campaign that comes with high hopes of hardware.
From the opening face-off, there was plenty of noise. A pounding drum drove the home team forwards and every foray into Swiss territory pushed the roar of the crowd up another notch.
And the players thrived on the sense of occasion. It took less than five minutes for the Czechs to make a breakthrough when Hymlarova fired home a one-timer from the inside edge of the right-hand circle to finish off a quick counterattack involving Andrea Trnkova and Natalie Mlynkova.
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CZECHIA V. SWITZERLAND
GAME HIGHLIGHTS | CONDENSED GAME
Hymlarova plays for the Minnesota Frost and is one of nine PWHL players on the Czech team here. The 26-year-old is back for her eighth Worlds and already owns two bronze medals. But a pumped-up celebration showed how much it meant to score for her country on home ice.
Goalscorers tend to insist that it isn’t important who finds the net, but Hymlarova admitted this one was special. “It’s a dream come true, a big moment,” she said. “It doesn’t matter who scores the goal but it felt great. I didn’t have my best season this year, but this is big and I’m just excited to be here in front of a home crowd.”
And there was more first-period joy to come in the final minute of session when Kristyna Kaltounova – making her World Championship debut here – marked the occasion with a power play goal to double the lead. It took Czechia just 13 seconds to convert its first PP of the day.
However, Switzerland was not overawed. There were chances at both ends, with Klara Peslarova making a smart stop to deny the dangerous Lara Stalder in a one-on-one midway through the session. The Swiss also had the first power play of the evening, but struggled to press the Czech penalty kill on that occasion.
“We wanted to keep them off the board longer in the first,” reflected Swiss captain Lara Stalder. “We knew they wanted to come out really hard to get the crowd going and they did.
“But I feel like we bounced back. We had our chances and if we put one in then it’s 1-1 instead of 2-0 at the intermission. It’s still the beginning of the tournament. We need to capitalize on our chances; we created them and that’s the big positive we take out of this.”
“Both teams played a really good game, Switzerland as well,” acknowledged Czech goalie Peslarova. “It was really up and down, it was about who was going to score that next goal. Luckily we built the lead and Even though Switzerland pushed us all the game we managed to keep the puck out of the net.”
The Swiss also had a good opportunity early in the second when Alina Muller and Rahel Enzler got a two-on-one break. Muller carried the puck into the Czech zone and opted to shoot, but Peslarova got behind it and a big rebound skittered past Enzler to safety.
But if the Swiss traded in chances, the Czechs dealt in goals. After seven minutes of the second period, it was 3-0: Vendula Pribylova circled the Swiss zone and got the first of two deflections on a point shot from Trnkova. The second touch, from Pistekova, left unsighted goalie Andrea Braendli stranded.
By now the crowd was literally bouncing, and Czechia was close to a fourth goal when Plosova smacked a shot into the post. Then Michaela Pejzlova showed some great stick-handling to weave through the Swiss defence, only to be denied by Braendli's pads.
At the other end, the Swiss still posed a threat. Peslarova had to be alert in the 53rd minute to snuff out a big chance for Laura Zimmermann get her team back into the game.
Meanwhile the fourth goal that the crowd craved would not come. There were scrambles in front of Braendli, with Kaltounkova notably close to her second of the night. Then the Swiss netminder robbed Pejzlova from close range when the net seemed to be at the Czech forward's mercy.
Tempers frayed in the closing stages and the crowd's enjoyment was briefly diluted by the prospect of a Swiss power play. But some big blocked shots by Kaltounkova turned the jeers back to cheers - and impressed Peslarova with the effort from her team-mates.
“It was a real team effort,” Peslarova said. “Immediately after the game I went to Kristyna (Kaltounkova) and thanked her. They put a lot of pressure on is, she blocked 3-4 shots and that was really big for us.”
Czechia vs Switzerland - 2025 IIHF Women's World Championship
OF