It didn't come easy, but Canada will play for gold on Sunday after their 4-2 win in the semifinal. Czechia will take on Sweden for bronze.  

"We knew they were going to come out strong and play physical. After we got some of the nerves out, we were able to settle in and play our game," Team Canada coach Vicky Sunohara said. 

Canada's Stryker Zablocki and Caileigh Tiller collected two points each, as did team captain Chloe Primerano. Linda Vocetkova and Julie Jebouskova scored a goal each, and Daniela Novakova made 39 saves for Czechia.

"We stuck to our habits, and didn’t give up even though we went down in the start. We played well and didn't quit," Primerano said. "We definitely had a chip on our shoulder from last year, and we didn't want the same result this year."
 
Primerano now holds the Team Canada record for most points in the under-18 Women's Worlds. 

"I think a gold medal would be nice, that's the most important thing," she said with a smile. 

"I'm very proud of my team, they left everything they had on the ice,"  Czechia coach Dusan Andrasovsky said. "But, Canada was better."

Last year, Canada won the preliminary round game 8-1, having outshot Czechia 41-24. In their second matchup in the semifinal, Canada outshot Czechia 47-12, but lost the game 4-2. 
 
“Our players know that they can do anything. Maybe we wouldn’t beat Canada ten times out ten, but once…?”  Andrasovsky said before the semifinal.
 
In Vantaa, Canada beat Czechia in the preliminary round game, 5-0, outshooting them 44-20.  And today’s semifinal followed the script we know: Canada pressed, dominated the game, they had the puck and Czechia blocked, boxed out, did everything they could to stop them and, given the chance, strike back. 
 
And they struck first. With 7:26 remaining, Vocetkova fired from the blueline, and the seeing-eye puck found its way through traffic, beating Grenier high on the glove hand side. 

​"We knew they had a great goalie, a big goalie, and we were taking some shots she was seeing and that gave her confidence. We knew we had to get in front of her," Sunohara said.
 
Czechia had two penalties in the first period, but Canada couldn’t convert on their chances, and not even on their third power play but the fourth time was the charm. 
 
Kate Viel sent a cross-ice pass to Sofia Ismael along the blue line, she stepped in and fired a wrister. Novakova got a piece of it but not enough, and the game was tied at 5:26 into the second period. 
 
Halfway through the game, Canada had outshot Czechia 27-8. 
 
At 10:12, Stryker Zablocki finally found herself with enough time and space to move freely. She accelerated around a Czech defender, cut to the net and slammed the puck into Novakova’s net to give Canada a 2-1 lead in the game. 
 
Zablocki picked up her second point in the game at 18:05 when she sent a pass to the far post and Caileigh Tiller doubled Canada’s lead with a deflection.
 
But the Czechs showed resilience. With 33 seconds remaining, Julie Jebouskova scored with a snapshot off a broken play after a faceoff in Canada’s zone. 

After all their scoring attempts, Canada even had luck on the side when Novakova made a save on Hayley MacDonald, the puck hit the post and was left lying on the goal line. As the Czech goalie and a defender tried to clear it, they directed it into the net for 4-2. 

With two minutes remaining, Czechia pulled Novakova and tried to find a goal on a 6-on4 power play, but to no avail. 

Team Canada got their revenge. 

"We saw progress every day of the tournament, and the team took a huge step up. I told the girls that it feels good to win the last game of the tournament and that's what we'll go for tomorrow," Andrasovsky said.