The stakes were as high as they could be in the relegation game between Slovakia and Japan. The winner stays in the top division. Unfortunately for Japan, who earned promotion back to the top division last year, their stay up was a short one as ​Slovakia won the game 5-1. 

"For us, this was like winning a medal," Slovakia coach Michal Kobezda said. "These games are so tough, and we're really happy with the win."

Slovakia' Nela Lopusanova scored one and added an assist, Ema Tothova collected two assists and Mariana Sumegova made 32 saves. Momoka Okamura scored for Japan, Haruka Kuromaru made 21 saves for Japan. 
 
"We had a lot of scoring chances but the puck luck just wasn't there today," Team Japan coach Yujiro Kasahara said. "We had a young team here so the future looks bright, even though we get relegated now."
 

The history of games between Slovakia and Japan in the under-18 Women’s Worlds is a short one. The teams had only played once against each other, in the opening game of the Ostersund tournament in 2023. Slovakia won the game 6-3. Zuzana Dobiasova scored a hat-trick, Nela Lopusanova potted two, and Ema Tothova collected three assists. 
 
It was Dobiasova’s last under-18 tournament, but Lopusanova and Tothova were in Vantaa to make sure it was Japan, not Slovakia who’d have to give way to Hungary in the top division. 
 
Not that it came easy. 
 
The first period was a tale of two halves. Japan started the game strong, and with a help of a powerplay, created a couple of scoring chances but couldn’t beat Sumegova. Then, at 8.30, Michaela Letasi found Liana Tomastikova on the blueline, and Tomastikova fired a shot that caught Kuromaru by surprise, giving Slovakia an important 1-0 lead.

"Finally, we got some pucks to our defenders on the blueline and it was worth it. We wanted to play like this from the beginning of the tournament and I'm happy that it worked," Kobezda said. 
 
The goal made Slovakia’s players play with more confidence and as the first period progressed, they took over the game, outshooting Japan 9-4 in the last ten minutes of the period.
 
In the second period, it was Japan who created the dangerous scoring chances, but they missed an open net twice, and Sumegova took care of the rest.  Japan had outshot Slovakia 6-1 in the first 9.47 of the period. 
 
It was right then that Bianka Kostkova fired a one-timer from the point through traffic and it beat Kuromaru high. Tothova and Bianka Maslakova collected assists. 

"It was nice to see girls from the other lines step up and get some rewards," the Slovak coach said. 

Lopusanova picked up her second point of the game when she went coast-to-coast with three minutes remaining in the period. She grabbed the puck off a defensive zone faceoff, cruised through the neutral zone, split the Japanese defense and beat Kuromaru on the blocker side for 3-0, 

"We had scouted their goalie and wanted to get shots high on the blocker side," Kobezda said. 

With less than a minute to go in the period, Lenka Karkoskova picked up a loose puck on the offensive blueline and she knew what to do with it. She fired a wrister from the slot and beat Kuromaru high on the blocker side. 

Slovakia's three penalties in the last fifteen minutes of the game opened the door for Japan to return to the game, and while they came up short, Okamura put an end to Sumegova's shutout bid at 13.03 when her backhander slipped through traffic and caught the Slovak goalie by surprise. 

Gabriela Lacna sealed the final score, 5-1, with an empty-netter with 1.28 remaining.