Czechia and Finland met in the first quarter-final of the 2023 IIHF Women’s World Championship, and the game did not disappoint. In what was their fourth Women’s Worlds quarter-final meeting in a row, Czechia took the win to progress to the semi-finals with a thrilling 2-1 victory.

This is the second tournament in row in which Czechia has beat the Finns in the quarter-finals. Last August, the Czechs took their first ever Women’s Worlds win over Finland in overtime, with Aneta Tejralova as the hero in their 2-1 victory.

"It feels awesome, they are a very tough opponent," said Czechia's Natalie Mlynkova. "Credit to them, they are very good, they are really fast. The fact that we can beat them and prove that [2022] wasn’t just a surprise, it’s a lot for us, it gives us a lot of confidence. When you play with confidence, that’s everything, it’s so much more fun."



The teams traded chances through the first few minutes. Mlynkova—one of the fastest skaters on the ice in Brampton—almost created a breakaway opportunity for herself, and Finland nearly had one of their own while shorthanded.

A wide open Viivi Vainikka scored her fifth goal of the tournament at 15:18 to give Finland a 1-0 lead, receiving a pass from Noora Tulus and moving the puck from forehand to backhand to tuck it past Blanka Skodova.

Forty-nine seconds was all Czechia needed to take the lead in the second period. The game tying goal came from Mlynkova, who collected the puck from a scrum in the corner and skated it out in front of the net to score five hole.

"I believe we were on the power play and there was a puck in the corner and it was a battle two-on-two," said Mlynkova. "We always want to have more people in the battle so I just went to get it and all of a sudden the puck was behind the net. I just tried to surprise, just wrap it around, and tried to find a space five hole, and it worked out."

Less than a minute later (49 seconds to be exact), Tejralova skated into Finland’s zone and passed backwards to Katerina Mrazova, whose one-timer beat Finnish goalie Anni Keisala to give Czechia a 2-1 lead.

The Finns had five power play opportunities throughout the game, but were unable to solve Czechia’s penalty kill, which remains the only in the tournament to not allow a single shorthanded goal against. 

"We couldn’t find the net," said Finnish captain Jenni Hiirikoski. "I think we had a lot of good chances, but hopefully we will bounce back tomorrow."

Klara Hymlarova was a force to be reckoned with on the PK; on one shift in the second period, she blocked three shots in quick succession.

"That’s the plan, just block as many shots as you can because that’s the championship mentality and that’s what we are trying to focus on," said Mlynkova. "Credit to Klara [Hymlarova] because her huge three blocks in a row, that was a key point in the game. You block a shot and you never know what’s going to happen and look at us, we are in the semi-finals because of it now."

Finland pulled Keisala for the extra attacker with three minutes remaining and by the final buzzer had outshot Czechia 42 to 22, but Skodova was phenomenal in net, keeping the score at 2-1.

"Huge credit to Blanka because she really stood up today, and we needed her and the way she stayed super calm the entire 60 minutes, that was very helpful for us," said Mlynkova. "Sometimes I even thought that it was going in the net and all of a sudden Blanka put a pad there or something. We are very fortunate to have her here, that she’s able to step up."

"I need to be really proud of the team, how we stepped into the game today, we were ready for the fight. We need to respect the result today, and Czechia was one goal better," said Hiirikoski. "We want to get that A group position so we will give everything on the ice tomorrow again."

Czechia will now play in the semi-finals on Saturday, while Finland will return to the ice tomorrow for the placement round.

"It’s amazing what emotion and energy can do in a close game like that. We have players who aren’t dressed, players who maybe didn’t get the same ice time, but everyone is all in and that’s what it takes to find success. I couldn’t be more thrilled for our group," said Czechia head coach Carla MacLeod. "I think in the round robin we played both teams [Canada, United States] really well. These are opportunities to learn to grow and learn how to win. Nobody’s looking at us anymore and saying, ‘oh, it’s just Czech.’ Hockey speaks, and I think our hockey has spoken this week."