Czechia claimed its second victory at this year’s Women’s U18 World Championship in a passionate derby battle against Slovakia. The Central European neighbours produced an enthralling battle. Amid drama, skill and a little controversy the lead changed hands repeatedly.

While the Czechs took a 6-3 verdict to build on last night’s overtime win against Switzerland, Slovakia’s Nela Lopusanova produced the big individual performance. She had the first hat-trick of this year’s championship, yet still finished on the losing side. So far, Lopusanova has been involved in all five of her team’s goals in Vantaa.

The teams wasted little time in setting the tone for this game. After chances at both ends, Slovakia opened the scoring in the fourth minute through Lopusanova. It started in the Slovaks’ zone when Gabriela Lacna batted the puck off a Czech stick to release her team-mate. Lopusanova held off the close attentions of Barbora Proskova to close in on Daniela Novakova’s net and fire over the goalie’s shoulder.
 

The Czechs looked for a quick reply and yesterday’s overtime heroine Julie Jebouskova was close to a tying goal. The pressure continued and captain Linda Vocetkova forced home the equalizer after a point shot from Ellen Jarabkova bounced around in front of Mariana Samegova. 

In the absence of the top-scoring line from last year’s silver medal team, Vocetkova was one of the players expected to step up and fill the gap, and she struck again late in the first period. Slovakia’s coaches might question some of the defensive work as the Czech captain was able to skate into the danger zone rather easily, but there was no question about the finish as she found the top shelf.

Head coach Dusan Andrasovsky was full of praise for his captain: "She's a very good shooter and a great forward for us. It's great to see her development."

While Vocetkova's double turned the game in Czechia's favour, she was modest about her role. "There is some pressure on me as captain but I try not to think about it," she said. "I just try to motivate my team-mates and cheer them on, telling them we can win."

Slovakia got a boost at the start of the second period with a five-on-three power play. Although the Czechs survived with three players – helped by a good save from Novakova to deny Ema Lackova – they couldn’t kill the remaining penalty. The ever-dangerous Tothova-Lopusanova connection clicked again and Nela steered home a diagonal feed from her partner to tie the game

Five minutes later, Slovakia was back in front – albeit on a goal that will be discussed for some time. Tothova’s stretch pass sent Lopusanova through. She held off a challenge from Veronika Hujova, and the Czech defender ultimately went sliding into the net, knocking it off the moorings before Lopusanova could get around goalie Novakova and finish the play. A video review ruled a good goal, and Lopusanova’s hat-trick had Slovakia up 3-2 midway through the second.

If the Czechs felt aggrieved at the circumstances of that goal, they responded in the best possible fashion. Two goals in a minute at the end of the second period turned the game around once again and built what proved to be a winning lead. First, Magdalena Felcmanova produced some fantastic stick-handling, pulling off a drag to wrong-foot the defender before putting a powerful shot past Sumegova on 38:02. Then, 62 seconds later, Barbora Proskova swept home the rebound from an Adela Fromova point shot.

"I'm proud of the way we didn't hang our heads," Vocetkova added. "We stayed patient and had faith in ourselves."

That double salvo transformed the mood going into the second intermission, and Czechia was largely able to neutralize a dangerous opponent in the third. As in its opening loss to the USA, Slovakia was unable to maintain the same level in the final stanza and was held to just five shots in the final frame. At the other end, Dana Brezinova extended the lead in the 46th minute before Jebouskova wrapped it up late on.

For Slovakia, it was a case of what might have been. Head coach Michal Kobezda felt that the turning point came late in the second period. And, going forward, he wants more secondary scoring. "We have good players who can keep us in the game in the offensive zone, but we need more girls to contribute," he said."

His opposite number Andrasovsky, buoyed by back-to-back wins, admitted that it wasn't an easy win. Now he's looking forward to Canada. "We'll take it day by day and we'll get better every day," he said. "It's a short tournament so it's easier for the young players to stay focused."