As expected, Czechia got their World Championship campaign in the Women’s World Championship Group A off to a winning start, picking up all three points in their opening game. However, the Austrian newcomers made life difficult for the Czechs, and it was not until the closing stages that the game was finally decided. When Katerina Mrazova made it 3-1 with just over eight minutes remaining, the contest was effectively over. Final result 4-1 in favour of Team Czechia,
The odds were set before the game: Czechia, with plenty of experience from the World Championship’s Top Division, were favourites against newcomers Austria. However, the Austrians arrived with enormous motivation and high hopes of showcasing their proud ice hockey tradition on the biggest stage for the very first time.
Both teams were backed by enthusiastic fans, and who else but Austria’s long-time star player and captain was going to register the first shot on goal in the country’s Top Division history? Shortly afterwards, Katerina Mrazova had a huge opportunity but fired just wide in a game that got off to a fast-paced start.
The Czechs comfortably killed off an early power play, and Klara Hymlarova even had the biggest chance when she stole the puck from Annika Matzka, only to miss the ensuing breakaway. Austrian goaltender Selma Luggin had therefore made a solid start to the game.
And then, almost out of nowhere, following an extended spell of Czech puck possession, Anna Meixner appeared. She picked up the puck in the neutral zone, slipped behind the Czech defence and found the back of the net. A Meixner masterpiece!
She had scored Austria’s historic first-ever Top Division goal. Just seven minutes had been played. Was this the beginning of an Austrian fairytale in the land of Hans Christian Andersen?
The Czechs enjoyed the majority of possession, but they came up against a brick wall of hard-working Austrian players, who occasionally looked to break forward with dangerous counterattacks. Three minutes before the end of the period, Natalie Mlynkova had a huge chance in front of an almost empty net, but narrowly failed to connect with the puck.
However, with just one minute remaining, the Czech goal song, "Hoja Hou", rang out across the arena in Esbjerg as Klara Hymlarova found herself in exactly the right spot in front of goal and tapped home the equaliser. It was the finishing touch to an excellent passing move that left Hymlarova with a simple tap-in.
An excellent pad save from Selma Luggin denied Adela Sapovalivova early in the second period as the Czech forward joined the attack and tried her luck. Shortly afterwards, Austria had a dangerous power play, but Anna Meixner was denied by Czech goaltender Peslarova.
Austria kept the momentum going, helped by another Czech penalty, this time to Aneta Tejlarova. During the opening stages of the second period, it was difficult to tell which team were the newcomers and which were the established Top Division nation. The game was flowing from end to end.
After 31 minutes, Czechia created their first real opportunity, immediately putting Selma Luggin and the Austrian penalty-killing unit under heavy pressure. Austria survived, but the favourites continued to push forward, and Natalie Mlynkova demonstrated her scoring touch by making it 2-1, recording her 20th career goal in the Top Division.
"Austria played very well defensively and they were well prepared for our game. So it was really hard to get to the net and it was not the most beautiful goals we scored. We knew we needed to put some pucks on the net and keep the pressure, and finally I think we wore them down. In the last half of the game we got our feet and the puck moving and played pretty well," Mlynkova said after the game.
As the period drew to a close, Czechia piled on the pressure around Luggin's net, eventually finishing the period with a commanding 16-3 advantage in shots on goal.
The third period opened with sustained Czech pressure against an Austrian side that was struggling to keep up with the increased tempo. Gradually, an outstanding Selma Luggin established herself as the newcomers' undisputed key player, standing tall behind a defence that continued to battle heroically.
Yet, at the seven-minute power break, the score remained just 2-1. Czechia, under new head coach Brian Idalski, were still searching for the decisive goal.
The final blow came with just over eight minutes remaining, when Austria could no longer withstand the relentless Czech pressure. Katerina Mrazova fired the puck home from close range, making it 3-1.
The favourites had secured their victory and Mrazova added en empty-netter with 79 seconds to go to make it 4-1.
Austrian legend and captain Anna Meixner was proud of her team's performance and gave her first goal to the team.
"I did not think of it as my goal - it was a goal for the team. We gave everything we could and kept the game open for long time and we are happy with our performance today. Selma (Luggin) in goal was outstanding and it is good to know that we have three strong goaltenders in our squad. I'm sure we'll be ready for tomorrow's game against Germany."
