Latvia – Denmark 1-4 (0-1, 0-2, 1-1)

VALMIERA – In five out of six games on the first day of the Olympic Pre-Qualification the favourites won. Not so in the evening game in Valmiera where host Latvia suffered a 4-1 loss to Denmark.

In the last four years in the Women’s World Championship program the Latvian women have always ended up with a better ranking than the Danes, who were promoted to the Division I Group A last spring, the level where Latvia plays as well.

The defeat will make it more difficult for the Latvians to win the tournament on home ice and advance to the Final Olympic Qualification. Latvia will play Italy on Friday evening while Denmark takes on Austria in the afternoon.

Simone Jacquet opened the scoring for Denmark at 2:52. The Danes became even stronger in the middle stanza outshooting Latvia 20-3. Anne Sofie Clausen scored the second goal at 4:27 and five minutes later Julie Gregersen made it a 3-0 lead for Denmark.

Latvia tried to change the momentum early in the third period. They had a 5-on-3 power play and just when it was over Ieva Petersone got Latvia on the scoreboard.

But the Latvians didn’t manage to get another. Nicoline Jensen scored the 4-1 goal with seven minutes left in regulation time to seal the win for Denmark.

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Austria – Italy 7–0 (1-0, 2-0, 4-0)

VALMIERA – Austria opened Group F of the Olympic Pre-Qualification in women’s hockey with a convincing 7-0 victory over neighbour Italy.

In the first period the red-and-whites were not that efficient as Giulia Mazzocchi saved 13 shots, but with 36 seconds left Janine Weber opened the scoring on a power play.

It was only after the halftime mark in the second period when the Austrian goal galore started.

Weber scored her second power-play goal at 13:40 and five minutes later Anna Meixner made it a 3-0 lead. After two goals from Denise Altmann and one each from Julia Willenshofer and Eva Maria Schwärzler in the third period the game ended with a 7-0 score.

Austria outshot Italy 36-27, but Paula Marchhart and for the last 11 minutes Rita Flor kept the Austrian net clean.

Host Latvia will play Denmark in the evening game.

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China – Netherlands 4–2 (1-0, 1-1, 3-1)

SHANGHAI – By jumping to a 2-0 lead and closing out the Netherlands in the third period, China won its first game of the women’s Olympic Pre-Qualification tournament by a score of 5-2. Liang Tang marked the game winner for her team as China, the highest-ranked team in Group E, avoided an upset bid from the Dutch in Shanghai.

The Chinese offence was relentless against Netherlands goatender Claudia van Leeuwen, averaging just over 20 shots a period. Captain Sun Rui scored a pair of goals in the game, and goaltender Yao Shi held of the Dutch offence until midway through the second period, when Mieneke De Jong scored to cut the lead to 2-1 going into the second intermission.

Tang Liang added another goal for China three minutes into the third period, and was answered with another score for the Dutch, again coming from De Jong, to make it a one-goal game with just over 15 minutes left to play.

But penalty trouble cost the Netherlands a chance to equalize, as Yu Baiwei scored the insurance goal on the power play with De Jong in the box on a hooking call. Sun then snuffed out any hope for a late comeback with her second goal of the game, coming also on the power play. Her performance in the opening game earned her Best Player honours along with van Leeuwen.

China will host Great Britain next, which dropped its first game 7-0 to France and desperately needs a victory to stay in contention. Likewise, the Netherlands will take on France hoping to get a better result and keep its Olympic hopes alive.

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France – Great Britain 7–0 (1-0, 2-0, 4-0)

SHANGHAI – The French women’s team opened up the Olympic Pre-Qualification stage with a decisive 7-0 win over Great Britain. Marion Allemoz and Soline Fohrer each had a pair of goals as France cruised to a 1-0 record on the tournament.

The teams took to the ice in the city of Shanghai, China, host for the Pre-Qualification Tournament Group E. Also competing in the group are China and the Netherlands. The venue for the tournament is the Sports Complex at Shanghai University, once the home of Chinese sports stars such as basketball player Yao Ming and Olympic hurdler Liu Xiang.

Goaltender Caroline Baldin held the British team without a goal, earning a 12-save shutout effort that was helped in large part to a stifling French defence.

At the other end of the ice, embattled netminders Nicole Jackson and Chelsea Mackenzie were under fire for much of the game. Facing down a total of 47 shots from the French, Jackson and later Mackenzie (who took over following the first intermission) kept their team in contention until the third period, when four goals from France sealed the rout.

French captain Marion Allemoz led her team with two goals and one assist, receiving the Best Player award. She opened the scoring for France in the first period, the goal coming off a power play near the end of the frame, and added another marker in the third.

Her linemate Soline Fohrer extended the lead in the second period with a pair of goals, putting France up 3-0 as Great Britain struggled to generate any kind of offensive rush. Emmanuelle Passard, Doriane Gicquel, and Lore Baudrit rounded out the scoring for the French team.  

France will take on the Netherlands in their second game, while Great Britain faces off against the Chinese.

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ADAM STEISS
MARTIN MERK