Shannon Coulter
GAME NOTES: CANADA VS. CZECHIA (JAN. 17)
It’s Semifinal Saturday in Cape Breton as Canada’s National Women's Under-18 Team faces off against Czechia for a spot in the gold medal game at the 2026 IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship.
Last Game
Canada advanced to the semifinals after blanking Finland 12-0 on Thursday. Adrianna Milani led the offence with four goals—the third four-goal game by a Canadian in tournament history. Megan Mossey recorded four assists, the eighth by a Canadian and first since 2014, and Rowan Houweling made 10 saves for her second shutout in as many starts.
Czechia earned its spot in the semifinals with a close 2-1 victory over Switzerland. The Swiss got on the board first, but Johanna Tischler tied the game midway through the second period and Tereza Gildainova scored the game-winning goal with 1:49 remaining in the third.
Last Meeting
One year after Czechia shocked Canada in the semifinals of the 2024 U18 Women’s Worlds, the Canadians got their revenge in 2025, defeating the Czechs 4-2 to advance to the gold medal game. Caileigh Tiller and Stryker Zablocki each scored once and added an assist. Marilou Grenier made 19 saves, while Chloe Primerano chipped in with two assists to become the all-time leading scorer in National Women’s Under-18 Team history.
What to Watch
Generating offence has not been an issue for Canada. The Canadians have scored 44 goals in their first four games, only three off of the record set in 2008 for the most by a Canadian team at a U18 Women’s Worlds. With two games remaining, a few single-tournament Canadian records are in reach. Milani has eight goals, putting her two away from Caitlin Kraemer’s record (10 in 2023 and 2024), Mossey is within four from Brigette Lacquette’s record for assists in a tournament (11 in 2010), and Milani and Sofia Ismael need five points to equal Primerano’s record (16 in 2024).
The Czechs have spread around the scoring in Cape Breton, with six players—Tereza Gildainova (4-1—5), Julie Jebouskova (0-5—5), Andrea Kantorova (2-3—5), Adela Mynarikova (2-3—5), Aneta Paroubkova (1-4—5) and Katerina Pencikova (1-4—5), tied for the team lead with five points. In goal, Lili Chmelarova has been terrific, posting the second-best goals-against average (2.40) and save percentage (.893) among netminders who don’t play for Canada or the United States. And don’t count out experience—six players on the Czech roster (Gildainova, Jarabkova, Jebouskova, Pankova, Paroubkova and Tischler) were part of the team that stunned the Canadians in the semifinals and won silver in 2024.
A Look Back
This marks the 11th meeting between the Canadians and Czechs and it’s the third year in the row the teams will meet in the semifinals.
The two previous matchups on Canadian ice were both one-sided wins for the home country—Marie-Philip Poulin and Natalie Spooner both scored hat tricks in an 11-2 victory at the inaugural tournament in 2008 in Calgary, and Lindsay Agnew, Kristin O’Neill and Amy Potomak led Canada with two goals apiece in an 11-0 win in 2016 in St. Catharines.
All-time record: Canada leads 9-1 Canada goals: 69 Czechia goals: 11