VIERUMÄKI, Finland – Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team has advanced to the semifinals at the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship after finishing first in Group A with a perfect 3-0 record in preliminary round play.

Canada concluded the preliminary round Tuesday with a 7-0 win over Germany at Arena Vierumäki. Halli Krzyzaniak (Neepawa, Man./Pursuit of Excellence, Midget AAA) opened the scoring at 9:25 in the first, with Hanna Bunton (Belleville, Ont./Whitby, PWHL) adding another just 21 seconds later and Catherine Daoust (Île-Bizard, Que./Saint-Laurent, Collégial AA) scoring her first international goal on a power play at 16:25 in the period.

Ashleigh Byrkaliuk (Brandon, Man./Westman, MFMHL) scored in the first period and notched the game-winner in the shootout, Hanna Bunton (Belleville, Ont./Whitby, PWHL) added one in the second and Halli Krzyzaniak (Neepawa, Man./Pursuit of Excellence, Midget AAA) had a goal in the third in what was a fast-paced game with 500 fans watching from the stands. Jessica Dodds (London, Ont./London, PWHL) and Kimberly Newell (Burnaby, B.C./Princeton University, ECAC) split duties between the posts for Canada.

Earlier in the preliminary round, Canada beat Hungary 4-1 on Saturday, Dec. 29 and blanked Finland 4-0 on Sunday, Dec. 30. Finland finished in second, Hungary came in third and Germany took fourth place. In Group B, the United States finished in first, followed by Sweden, the Czech Republic and Russia.

Quarter-finals are scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 2, semifinals are set for Friday, Jan. 4 and medal round games take place Saturday, Jan. 5.

Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team is defending the gold medal at this year’s IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship. Captain Kristyn Capizzano, alternate captains Emily Clark and Krzyzaniak, along with Brykaliuk and Catherine Dubois (Quebec City, Que./Limoilou, Collégial AA), all return this year after winning the 2012 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship in Prerov and Zlin, Czech Republic. Dodds, Kristin Gilmour (Millgrove, Ont./Oakville, PWHL) and Nurse are making their Team Canada debuts.

Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team includes two goaltenders, seven defencemen and 13 forwards. Seventeen players were members of Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team for a three-game series against the U.S. Women’s Under-18 Team in August in Blaine, Minn., winning two of those games.

Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team, broken down by province:

Alberta – three (Taryn Baumgardt*, Eden Murray*, Karly Heffernan*)
British Columbia - three (Kimberly Newell*, Hannah Miller*, Alexa Ranahan*)
Manitoba - three (Ashleigh Brykaliuk*, Halli Krzyzaniak*, Cassidy Carels*)
Ontario – eight (Hanna Bunton*, Kristyn Capizzano*, Jessica Dodds, Kristin Gilmour, Corie Jacobson, Sydney McKibbon*, Alex Moore, Sarah Nurse)
Prince Edward Island – one (Sarah Steele*)
Quebec – three (Geneviève Bannon*, Catherine Daoust*, Catherine Dubois*)
Saskatchewan – one (Emily Clark*)

*played for Canada in a three-game series against the United States in August.

In preliminary round action at the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship, Canada also plays Finland at 10:30 a.m. ET/5:30 p.m. local time on Sunday, Dec. 30 at Heinola Arena and Germany at 8 a.m. ET/3 p.m. local time on Tuesday, Jan. 1, at Vierumäki Arena. Quarter-finals are scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 2 and semifinals are set for Friday, Jan. 4, all at Heinola Arena.

NOTE TO MEDIA: Kristen Lipscombe, Hockey Canada’s coordinator of communications, will be on site in Finland for the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship. Please contact her for any interview requests leading up to and during the event at (403) 826-4819 or [email protected].

Follow Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team at www.Twitter.com/HC_TeamCanada; become a fan of Hockey Canada at www.Facebook.com/HockeyCanada; and for statistics, stories, post-game video interviews and much more from Finland, please visit www.HockeyCanada.ca/NWT.