Canada shuts out Sweden to win women’s U18 hockey gold
ÖSTERSUND, Sweden –
Canada saved its most dominant effort for last.
Caitlin Kraemer led the way with four goals as Canada routed Sweden 10-0 to claim its second straight gold medal at the World Women’s Under-18 Hockey Championship on Sunday.
Alexia Aubin, with two goals, Abby Lunney, Piper Grober, Mackenzie Alexander and Charlotte Pieckenhagen also scored for Canada, which went undefeated throughout the tournament.
Hannah Clark had a 21-save shutout for Canada, repeating for the first time in nine years.
“It feels great, I love this team so much, I love everybody. It’s just a great feeling,” Clark said after the game.
“That’s all my team, they played great. They were relentless the whole (tournament).”
The performance catapulted Kraemer to the top of the list for goals scored in the tournament. She finished with 10 goals in five games, surpassing Marie-Philip Poulin for the most goals scored in a single tournament by a Canadian.
The 16-year-old Kraemer also set a new record for the fastest three goals by an individual player at the women’s U18 worlds, scoring her first three in the first 12 minutes of the game.
“We don’t keep score here, we just care about winning,” Kraemer said during the first intermission. “It’s pretty cool, but I only care about winning.”
Felicia Frank gave up five goals in 12 minutes before making way for Ida Henriksson. Henriksson stopped 26 of 31 shots in relief for Sweden.
The USA defeated Finland 5-0 to take bronze earlier on Sunday.
Canada got off to a flying start thanks to Kraemer. After being held scoreless in Saturday’s semifinal for the first time in the tournament, the Waterloo, Ont., native scored two quick goals.
Kraemer opened the scoring 5:16 into the contest before adding his second 25 seconds later.
Aubin joined in on the fun at 9:41 when she redirected an Ava Murphy shot into the net. Murphy had three assists in the game.
Grober made it 4-0 with a wrist shot on the power play at 10:01.
After the 12-minute mark, Kraemer completed the hat trick on a 2-on-1 break, beating Frank’s top corner.
“We wanted to come in with a ton of energy and stick to our habits really quickly and I think that came through,” Kraemer said of the fast start after the first period.
Aubin added his second of the game 3:54 into the middle. After a Sweden turnover, Pieckenhagen sent Aubin on a breakout and she beat Henriksson with a backhand shot.
Less than 90 seconds later, Lunney scored on a rebound to make it a 7-0 game.
Alexander added to the advantage at 8:29 of the second.
Pieckenhagen joined in and scored just 52 seconds into the third.
Kraemer scored on the power play 9:17 into the final frame, when she rebounded Emma Venusio’s one-timer.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on January 15, 2023.