photo: © Karl Denham
Italy has won Division I Group B of the 2025 IIIHF Women’s World Championship in Dumfries, Great Britain, earning a promotion to Group A next season.
“It was a real privilege to work with this group for these two weeks here in Dumfries,” said head coach Stephanie Poirier. “From day one we could see they were so committed at doing everything in their power to perform to their abilities, and I believe we showed that this week.”
“The key to our success was to put always the team first, we had each other’s back in every situation and we showed our pride and determination as a group every time we stepped into the ice,” said 18-year-old forward Matilde Fantin, who had nine points in five games to lead the tournament. “I love to play with this team and I’m really glad for the opportunity to be here. I’m so proud of everyone and how we worked hard to achieve this goal.”
Not only did the Italians win all five games, but they did so without surrendering a goal against the entire tournament, outscoring their opponents 31-0.
“It was really fun and I think watching our team play gave me a lot of emotions that we were really good,” said goaltender Martina Fedel, who recorded four of the team’s five shutouts. “Our systems worked perfectly and, especially in the game against Latvia, all the small details that the coaches talked about were perfectly executed.”
Taking silver is Latvia, which won four of five games but lost its third game 6-0 to Italy on Saturday. That result gave Italy the head-to-head tiebreaker, and left the Latvians hoping that the Koreans could steal at least a point from Italy on Sunday to keep their own hopes for gold alive. Alas, Italy beat Korea 7-0, which clinched the gold medal.
This was Latvia’s second-straight second-place finish in this group after being promoted from Division II Group A in 2023. Liga Miljone led the team with eight points and Kristiana Apsite played all five games in goal, registering a save percentage of 94.63.
Finishing third were the British, who dropped their first two games before winning against Kazakhstan and Slovenia. Great Britain’s top scorers were Louise Adams and Kathryn Marsden with four points each.
A former mainstay in Division II Group B, the Brits were promoted the year before Latvia and have steadily improved in this group, finishing fifth in 2023, fourth last year, and now third.
Kazakhstan finished fourth, with wins over Korea and Slovenia book-ending three defeats. After being relegated from this group two years ago and being promoted back last year, this has to be considered a successful return to Division I. Yekaterina Kutsenko had four points.
Korea was back in Division I Group B this year after getting relegated from Group A last year. The Koreans beat Slovenia in regulation time and host GB in overtime on a power-play goal by Eunji Lee, who was the team’s top scorer with six points.
It was a tough tournament for the Slovenes, who were outscored 46-8 across five games and will be relegated back to Division II for the first time since 2019. Sara Confidenti, Slovenia’s long-time offensive leader who plays for the Neuberg Highlanders of the EWHL, scored four of her team’s eight goals and added an assist.
As a result of the victory, Italy returns to Division I Group A for the first time since 2019. Since it’s women’s national team debuted in 1999, the Italians have only twice played in the second-highest tier and have yet to win a game.
“I’m so proud of this team and everything we’ve accomplished together,” said team captain Nadia Mattivi, who plays for Lulea in Sweden and was the SDHL’s top defender this season. “We’ve been working towards this for a long time, and I’m just so happy we finally got it done. Getting promoted to Division I-A is a huge step forward and a great boost of confidence as we look ahead to the Olympics in February.”
Ah yes, the Italian women will play in the 2026 Winter Olympics next February in Milan, for which they qualified as the host team. There, the competition will be much stiffer than they faced in Dumfries, but that’s a challenge they welcome.
“We are extremely proud and excited for the results and the promotion and it will bring a good vibe when we officially start preparing for the Olympics in a few weeks,” said Poirier. “We are, of course, very aware of the gap level we will be facing come Milano 2026 and the amount of work that is in front of us. We are ready to take on the challenge and excited to get started.”
“It was a real privilege to work with this group for these two weeks here in Dumfries,” said head coach Stephanie Poirier. “From day one we could see they were so committed at doing everything in their power to perform to their abilities, and I believe we showed that this week.”
“The key to our success was to put always the team first, we had each other’s back in every situation and we showed our pride and determination as a group every time we stepped into the ice,” said 18-year-old forward Matilde Fantin, who had nine points in five games to lead the tournament. “I love to play with this team and I’m really glad for the opportunity to be here. I’m so proud of everyone and how we worked hard to achieve this goal.”
Not only did the Italians win all five games, but they did so without surrendering a goal against the entire tournament, outscoring their opponents 31-0.
“It was really fun and I think watching our team play gave me a lot of emotions that we were really good,” said goaltender Martina Fedel, who recorded four of the team’s five shutouts. “Our systems worked perfectly and, especially in the game against Latvia, all the small details that the coaches talked about were perfectly executed.”
Taking silver is Latvia, which won four of five games but lost its third game 6-0 to Italy on Saturday. That result gave Italy the head-to-head tiebreaker, and left the Latvians hoping that the Koreans could steal at least a point from Italy on Sunday to keep their own hopes for gold alive. Alas, Italy beat Korea 7-0, which clinched the gold medal.
This was Latvia’s second-straight second-place finish in this group after being promoted from Division II Group A in 2023. Liga Miljone led the team with eight points and Kristiana Apsite played all five games in goal, registering a save percentage of 94.63.
Finishing third were the British, who dropped their first two games before winning against Kazakhstan and Slovenia. Great Britain’s top scorers were Louise Adams and Kathryn Marsden with four points each.
A former mainstay in Division II Group B, the Brits were promoted the year before Latvia and have steadily improved in this group, finishing fifth in 2023, fourth last year, and now third.
Kazakhstan finished fourth, with wins over Korea and Slovenia book-ending three defeats. After being relegated from this group two years ago and being promoted back last year, this has to be considered a successful return to Division I. Yekaterina Kutsenko had four points.
Korea was back in Division I Group B this year after getting relegated from Group A last year. The Koreans beat Slovenia in regulation time and host GB in overtime on a power-play goal by Eunji Lee, who was the team’s top scorer with six points.
It was a tough tournament for the Slovenes, who were outscored 46-8 across five games and will be relegated back to Division II for the first time since 2019. Sara Confidenti, Slovenia’s long-time offensive leader who plays for the Neuberg Highlanders of the EWHL, scored four of her team’s eight goals and added an assist.
As a result of the victory, Italy returns to Division I Group A for the first time since 2019. Since it’s women’s national team debuted in 1999, the Italians have only twice played in the second-highest tier and have yet to win a game.
“I’m so proud of this team and everything we’ve accomplished together,” said team captain Nadia Mattivi, who plays for Lulea in Sweden and was the SDHL’s top defender this season. “We’ve been working towards this for a long time, and I’m just so happy we finally got it done. Getting promoted to Division I-A is a huge step forward and a great boost of confidence as we look ahead to the Olympics in February.”
Ah yes, the Italian women will play in the 2026 Winter Olympics next February in Milan, for which they qualified as the host team. There, the competition will be much stiffer than they faced in Dumfries, but that’s a challenge they welcome.
“We are extremely proud and excited for the results and the promotion and it will bring a good vibe when we officially start preparing for the Olympics in a few weeks,” said Poirier. “We are, of course, very aware of the gap level we will be facing come Milano 2026 and the amount of work that is in front of us. We are ready to take on the challenge and excited to get started.”