Canada wants to be golden again at the IIHF World Women’s Under-18 Championship. They’ll likely have to beat the U.S. in the final to do it.

The defending champions open the 2011 world championship Saturday against Switzerland in Stockholm, Sweden.

The majority of players on the Canadian team faced the U.S. in an exhibition series last August in Lake Placid, N.Y. The Americans swept the three-game set.

“We definitely all know the feeling of losing three games to the U.S.,” said forward Emily Fulton. “We’re kind of keeping that in the back of our minds.”

Canada and the U.S. have met in every final of the three IIHF World Women’s Under-18 Championships played to date. The U.S. won the first two — 5-2 in Calgary, Alta., in 2008 and then 3-2 in overtime the following year in Fussen, Germany.

Canada came back from a two-goal deficit and beat the U.S. 5-4 in overtime to win gold at the 2010 tournament in Chicago, Ill. Captain Jessica Campbell scored the winner.

Fulton, from Stratford, Ont., and defenceman Erin Ambrose of Keswick, Ont., are the two returning players from the 2010 roster. They know what it feels like to pile on their teammates to celebrate a world title.

“I’d never been in a more intense game,” Ambrose recalled. “It was a little community rink, but the stands were absolutely packed. There were four rows (of people) deep around the boards.

“When we scored it felt like ‘Oh my goodness, we just won.’ It didn’t really sink in until we sang the anthem.”

The post-victory highlight for Ambrose was attending the July ceremony in Edmonton, Alta., where she received her championship ring from Hockey Canada alongside the victorious men’s and women’s Olympic teams.

“A lot of us look up to them, me personally and I’m sure I could say that about the other girls on the team,” Ambrose said. “It’s all where most of us want to get to in our careers.”

Finland and Germany are in Canada’s pool along with the Swiss. The other five-team pool includes the U.S., Czech Republic, Sweden, Japan and Russia. The final is Jan. 8.

Canada’s 20-player roster of players born in 19 was chosen from a selection camp of 31 players held Dec. 17-19 in Toronto, Ont.

Marie-Philip Poulin, who scored both of Canada’s goals in the Olympic final in February, played in the first two IIHF World Women’s Under-18 Championships. This year’s team doesn’t have a standout sniper like Poulin, according to the coach.

“We have a pretty balanced team in that I don’t think we have one player who is going to stand out and score a bunch of goals for us,” head coach Sarah Hodges said. “I think we have to score by committee.

“We’re strong in net and I think we have four lines that are pretty even in front of solid defence. There’s not going to be anything flashy about us.”

Hodges coaches the University of Regina women’s team and also coached Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team in that summer series versus the U.S. She’ll be assisted by Cassie Turner and former national team player France Montour in Sweden.

It’s a challenge to get sustained effort out of young athletes, but that is exactly what Canada needs to win another world title.

“We have to learn to compete for 60 minutes,” Hodges said. “We have a good team, but the U.S. also has a good team as well. To beat them, we’re going to have to outwork and outbattle them for 60 minutes.

“We have to do that every game leading up to the medal round if we want to be in the gold medal game.”

Canada doubled the Swedish bantam boys’ team AIK 4-2 on Thursday in an exhibition game. Caley Mercer of Exeter, Ont., scored a pair of goals with Ambrose and Cydney Roesler of Stittsville, Ont., also scoring for Canada.

Ann-Renée Desbiens of La Malbaie, Que., and Amanda Makela of Thunder Bay, Ont., split goaltending duties. The Swedes outshot Canada 30-28.

The under-18 players aren’t the only women representing Canada in international hockey to start 2011.

Canada’s National Women’s Under-22 squad opens the MLP Cup next Tuesday in Kreuzlingen, Switzerland. The defending champions play their first game against the host Swiss.

That 21-player roster includes four players — Vicki Bendus, Natalie Spooner, Tara Watchorn and Courtney Birchard — who helped Canada’s National Women’s Team win the Four Nations Cup last month in St. John’s, N.L.

The under-18 team for the world championship isn’t usually chosen via a selection camp. There wasn’t a National Women’s Under-18 Championship in November for Hodges to scout because that tournament isn’t held when there is a Canada Winter Games in the same season.

So the women’s team was chosen in similar fashion to the men’s under-20 team currently competing at the 2011 IIHF World Junior Championship in Buffalo, N.Y. Ambrose feels competing for spots on the team has prepared Canada well for the rigours of the world championship.

“We’re all used to playing our club hockey levels, but this kind of hockey is a different level,” Ambrose said. “It’s a different compete and skill level.

“I think because all of us got to play against the 31 best players in our age group in Canada, it will help all of us.”

When Jessica Campbell felt a deflection off her stick and turned around to see the referee raise her arm, it didn’t sink in that she had just put the finishing touches on a win three years in the making – the overtime goal that gave Canada its first-ever gold medal at the IIHF World Women’s Under-18 Championship.

“I didn’t even realize that I had scored the goal until I was lying on the bottom of the pile,” Campbell, 17, said of the on-ice celebrations that followed Canada’s 5-4 win over the United States. “It happened so fast.”

While those magical moments seemed to flash by in a heartbeat, it was a multitude of moments filled with dedication and determination that led to Campbell’s April 3 goal in Chicago, Ill.

“During our pregame skate … we were just trying to keep our legs fresh and go through the motions of doing the little things right,” Campbell said of last-minute preparations, which could perhaps be compared to an artist perfecting her brush strokes before putting paint to canvas.

“Our (assisstant) coach, Pierre Alain, he had taken a few of us to the one end with the goalies and said, ‘okay, I want to work on redirecting the puck,’ ” she recalled.  “So when I saw it go in, that’s the first thing that came to my mind, was: ‘it worked, it worked!’ ”
The goal – and the game – came together in a true reflection of the team’s motto: Make Each Moment a Masterpiece.

“Every time we stepped onto the ice … we tried to perfect everything,” said Campbell, who led by example as team captain and capped off her success by being named the world championship’s most valuable player.

That’s why the team was careful not to cave under the pressure of gold medal expectations en route to that final matchup against the two-time defending champions, who had beaten Canada in the final of both of the first two world championships.

Even with momentum in favour of their American rivals, who were up 3-1 going into the second and 4-3 heading into the third period, the Canadians remained calm, cool and confident.“We knew that … anything was possible.”

That positivity paid off, and when Jenna McParland stepped up with a power-play goal to tie the game with eight minutes left, according to Campbell, “the energy had been triggered our way.”

But it was that fourth and final period when Campbell and crew polished off their priceless and precedent-setting victory.

“Mélodie Daoust had the puck and she was … going over the blue line,” Campbell remembers. “I just came skating on the ice and she passed it over to one of our defenceman, Erin Ambrose, and she went D-to-D to Brigette Lacquette.”

“I (saw) Brigette had the puck in the high slot, so I wanted to get in front of the goalie and make a screen … and then she took a shot and I got my stick on it and redirected it five-hole,” she said.

And that’s how Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team created its ultimate masterpiece.

“To look back one day and say we were on the first team to win … (is) something really special,” Campbell said. “The team is going to live on for many years to come.

Team Canada Red exacted a measure of revenge for their 6-1 loss to Japan on Saturday night – a loss that eliminated the Canadians from championship game contention – by scoring a convincing 7-1 win over the Japanese in Sunday morning’s third place game at the National Women’s Under-19 Program Evaluation Camp in Calgary.

Six different Canada Red players scored goals as the Canadians struck for two powerplay goals in the opening five-and-a-half minutes, and four goals overall with the man advantage.

Rayna Cruickshank (Cumberland, BC) got Canada Red started early, her point shot on the powerplay beating Japanese goaltender Azusa Nakaoku for a 1-0 Canada Red lead.

The lead was two just over 90 seconds later as Leslie Oles (Beaconsfield, QC) corralled a puck in the slot and beat Nakaoku on another Canada Red powerplay. Rebecca Johnston (Sudbury, ON) and Jessica Wong (Baddeck, NS) picked up the assists on Oles’ first goal of the tournament.

She got her second before the midway point of the opening period, stripping the puck from a Japanese defender at the offensive blueline and sliding the puck around Nakaoku for an unassisted effort.

The Canadians, despite holding a 3-0 lead after less than 10 minutes, found themselves even in shots on goal at the end of the period, 11-11. Canada Red goaltender Hillary Pattenden (Surrey, BC) was solid between the pipes, turning aside everything thrown her way as the Japanese pressed to get back into the game.

Canada Red came out strong to begin the second period, and pushed their lead to 4-0 at the 3:17 mark when a centering pass from Laura McIntosh (Waterloo, ON) banked off of Nakaoku’s skate and into the goal for another powerplay marker.

After numerous chances, Japan finally got onto the scoreboard close to the midway point of the period, converting on a two-man advantage. Satomi Aramaki picked up the goal following a scramble in front of Pattenden.

The Canadians continued to come at the team from the Far East, and got their fifth goal when Vanessa Émond (Lévis, QC) picked up a loose puck in the slot and snapped a shot over the blocker of Nakaoku.

Samantha Wauer (Oakbank, MB) rounded out the second period scoring just 1:01 after Émond’s goal, her blast from the point finding its way underneath the crossbar for a 6-1 Canada Red lead heading into the intermission.

Nana Fujimoto, who played in Japan’s first two games, relieved Nakaoku to begin the third period and was beaten just once, as Johnston capitalized on another Canada Red powerplay, her third goal in four games.

Canada Red held the final advantage in shots on goal at 33-23, including 13-3 in the third period.

Shoko Nihonyanagi scored a hat trick and added an assist, while Chiaki Yamanaka had a goal and three assists and Yurie Adanchi added four helpers as Japan picked up its first win of the National Women’s Under-19 Program Evaluation Camp with a 6-1 victory over Team Canada Red on Saturday night in Calgary.

The Japanese win means Team Canada White and Team Canada Black will meet in the championship game on Sunday afternoon, while it will be a rematch between Japan and Canada Red in the third-place game Sunday morning.

Yamanaka got Japan on the board first, just moments after a disallowed Canada Red goal, picking up the puck in the slot and picking the top corner over the glove hand of goaltender Lisa Plenderleith (North York, ON).

Canada Red tied the game with just over two minutes left in the opening frame, as Rebecca Johnston (Sudbury, ON) tipped a shot from Kali Gillanders (Kyle, SK) past Japanese goaltender Azusa Nakaoku, pulling the Canadians even on a powerplay.

Despite holding a 12-5 advantage on shots in the first 20 minutes, Canada Red entered the intermission tied 1-1.

Japan struck quickly in the second period, as Nihonyanagi beat Plenderleith on a wraparound for her first goal of the game, and the tournament.

A pair of point shots, the first from Mai Takahashi and the second from Yoko Kondo, less than two minutes apart late in the middle frame gave the Japanese a commanding, and somewhat surprising, 4-1 lead heading into the second intermission.

The start of the third period brought a goaltending change for Canada Red, as Hillary Pattenden (Surrey, BC) replaced Plenderleith between the pipes.

Despite continued pressure from Canada Red, it was Japan who scored the period’s first goal, as Nihonyanagi finished off a beautiful cross-crease feed from Yamanaka for her second goal of the game, this one coming on the powerplay.

The goal, which was scored near the midway point of the period, came on Japan’s first shot of the third, and just their 11th shot of the game.

Nihonyanagi rounded out the scoring with her hat trick marker, beating Pattenden with just 24 seconds to go.

The Canadians outshot the Japanese 41-14 overall, but will have to settle for a rematch on Sunday for third place.

Team Canada Black scored twice in the first period, then used strong goaltending from Delayne Brian (Winnipeg, MB) to hold on for a 3-2 win over Team Canada White on Saturday afternoon at the National Women’s Under-19 Program Evaluation Camp in Calgary.

Brian turned aside 23 of the 24 shots she faced, as Canada Black held a narrow advantage in shots on goal, 29-25, and used that to record a narrow win on the scoreboard.

Marie-Philip Poulin (Beauceville, QC) got Canada Black out in front close to seven minutes into the opening frame, picking up a loose puck in the neutral zone, outracing the Canada White defenders and flipping a backhand over goaltender Melissa Murphy (Pigeon Hill, NB) for a shorthanded marker.

The lead became two with five minutes to go in the first period, as Alyssa Wiebe (Saskatoon, SK) finished off a beautiful cross-ice pass from Brianne Jenner (St. Catharines, ON) for her second goal in three games.

Penalties continued to haunt Canada Black in the second period, as they handed Canada White a number of man advantage opportunities to get back into the game.

After Canada White failed to capitalize on their chances throughout the second period, Stephanie Ramsay (Calgary, AB) finally got her team on the board with a spectacular individual effort with three minutes to go, maneuvering around a pair of Canada Black defenders before sliding the puck around Brian, giving her team momentum heading to the final period.

With Canada Black needing a larger goal differential to ensure they advanced to Sunday’s championship game, Brian was pulled from the goal with less than a minute to go in the final frame. The move backfired, however, as Jennifer Wakefield (Pickering, ON) found the empty net to knot the game 2-2.

Canada Black would still leave with the ‘W’ though, as Natalie Spooner (Scarborough, ON) found the back of the net after a scramble in front of Murphy with just 10.4 seconds to go.

The teams finished the round robin with identical 2-1 records, and await the outcome of Saturday night’s Canada Red/Japan game to see who will play for third place on Sunday morning, and who will play in the championship game on Sunday afternoon.

Four goals – on 14 shots – in the first period was all Team Canada Red needed, as they topped Team Canada Black 4-1 at the National Women’s Under-19 Program Evaluation Camp on Friday night in Calgary.

Cassea Schols (Edmonton, AB) got Canada Red off on the right foot, her point shot finding its way past Canada Black goaltender Alexandra Garcia (Pointe Claire, QC) for a 1-0 lead just past the seven-minute mark of the opening period.

Canada Black got into penalty trouble near the midway point of the period, at one point finding themselves with four players in the penalty box.

The two-man advantage would prove to be a weapon for Canada Red, as Brittaney Maschmeyer (Bruderheim, AB) would score from the slot at 12:51, followed by a Bailey Bram (Ste-Anne, MB) goal just 66 seconds later to give her team a 3-0 lead. Both goals came with Canada Black two players short.

Maschmeyer rounded out the Canada Black’s nightmare period with just 1.2 seconds to go, snapping a shot past Garcia for her second of the period, giving Canada Red a 4-0 lead heading into the intermission.

As good as the Canada Red offence was in the opening 20 minutes, goaltender Hillary Pattenden (Surrey, BC) was just as good, making a number of spectacular saves to keep Canada Black off the scoresheet. Canada Black actually held an early shots on goal advantage at 7-2 before Schols’ opening goal.

Brianne Jenner (St. Catharines, ON) finally got her team on the board just short of the 12-minute mark of the second period, stripping the puck from a Canada Red defenseman and shoveling her own rebound past Pattenden, cutting the Canada Red lead to three at 4-1.

Despite peppering Pattenden with 15 shots in the final period, Canada Black could not find a way to push another puck past the Canada Red netminder. Pattenden turned aside 32 shots in total in picking up the victory.

Garcia rebounded from her first-period performance to stop all 17 shots she faced the rest of the way, albeit in a losing cause.

The win moves Canada Red to 1-1, while dropping Canada Black to the same mark. Both teams wrap up the round robin on Saturday – Canada Black takes on Canada White at 3:30 p.m., while Canada Red faces Japan at 7:30 p.m., both at Father David Bauer Arena.

Three players scored goals, eight players registered points and Team Canada White remained perfect at the National Women’s Under-19 Program Evaluation Camp with a 3-0 win over Japan on Friday afternoon.

Kathleen McDonald (Kamloops, BC), Kelsey O’Donnell (Souris, PE) and Jennifer Wakefield (Pickering, ON) scored for Canada White, who outshot the Japanese 26-8 in the win.

McDonald got the Canadians on the board early, her shot from the side of the net finding its way past Japanese goaltender Nana Fujimoto for a 1-0 lead not even four minutes into the game. O’Donnell and Lauriane Rougeau (Beaconsfield, QC) picked up the assists on McDonald’s powerplay marker.

Japan did a good job holding Canada White to just seven shots in the period, blocking a number of shots, both from the point and around the net.

The 16-year-old Fujimoto and her defense were the story of the middle frame, as the Japanese goaltender turned aside every shot she faced and the blueliners blocked a number more. Canada White outshot the visitors from the Far East 12-4 in the period but could not add to their one-goal lead.

O’Donnell finally got another puck past Fujimoto just 37 seconds into the third period, taking a pass from Vicki Bendus (Wasaga Beach, ON) and beating the Japanese netminder. Bendus picked up her third point in two games, while Chelsea Karpenko (Winnipeg, MB) picked up the other helper.

Wakefield was finally rewarded for her game’s worth of hard work, stepping around Fujimoto and sliding the puck into the open goal to round out the scoring with just over four minutes to go.

Goaltender Kayley Herman (Weyburn, SK) needed to make just eight saves – none over the final 20 minutes – to pick up the shutout in the Canada White goal.

Japan wraps up the round robin on Saturday night when they take on Canada Red at 7:30 p.m., while Canada White meets Canada Black in the final round robin game for both at 3:30 p.m. Both games will go at Father David Bauer Arena.

» National Women's Under-18 Team

Two goals 14 seconds apart late in the third period proved to be enough as Team Canada White downed Team Canada Red 4-3 at the National Women’s Under-19 Program Evaluation Camp in Calgary on Thursday night.

Breann Frykas (East St. Paul, MB) scored on a powerplay at 13:35 and Kelsey O’Donnell (Souris, PE) followed at 13:49 as Canada White survived a late rally but held on to move to 1-0, giving them momentum heading into Friday afternoon’s match-up with 0-1 Japan.

Canada Red jumped out to the early lead midway through the opening 20 minutes, as Jessica Wong (Baddeck, NS) took a pass from Rayna Cruickshank (Cumberland, BC) and beat goaltender Kayley Herman (Weyburn, SK) to put her team up 1-0.

Despite outshooting Canada Red 10-6 in the first period, Canada White found themselves down by a goal heading into the intermission.

Courtney Birchard (Mississauga, ON) got her team even less than five minutes into the middle frame on a Canada White powerplay, sending the water bottle behind Hillary Pattenden (Surrey, BC) flying with a shortside wrist shot.

That would be the only goal of the second period, with Canada White holding the edge in shots on goal once again at 13-8, for a two-period total of 23-14.

Canada Red once again took the lead early in the third period, as Rebecca Johnston (Sudbury, ON) stormed down the wing and snapped a shot over the shoulder of Melissa Murphy (Pigeon Hill, NB), who had replaced Herman at the game’s midway point.

Canada Red controlled play in the early parts of the final period, but Frykas’ goal pulled Canada White even and O’Donnell’s shot from the side of the net found its way past Lisa Plenderleith (North York, ON), giving Canada White its first lead of the game.

Vicki Bendus (Wasaga Beach, ON) finished off a scramble in front of Plenderleith by sneaking a shot past the Canada Red goaltender, giving her team the insurance goal it needed.

Canada Red, who face 1-0 Canada Black on Friday night at Father David Bauer Arena, got one back with under four minutes to go, as Vanessa Émond (Lévis, QC) tipped a Samantha Wauer (Oakbank, MB) point shot past Murphy, but that would be as close as they would come.

Herman stopped 10 of the 11 shots she faced for Canada White, while goaltending partner Murphy turned aside nine of 11. Canada Red’s Pattenden made 14 saves on 15 shots, while Plenderleith stopped 12 of 15.

Natalie Spooner (Scarborough, ON) scored with 3:53 remaining in the third period, giving Team Canada Black a tight 2-1 win over Japan in the opening game at the National Women’s Under-19 Program Evaluation Camp in Calgary on Thursday afternoon.

Spooner went to the net and converted a rebound off a shot by Marie-Philip Poulin (Beauceville, QC), giving her team the win in a game that was much closer than the shots on goal indicated.

Canada Black finished with 37 shots to Japan’s 17, including 26-12 over the opening 20 minutes. Nana Fujimoto was the star for the team from the Far East, not allowing a goal until the nine-minute mark of the second period and keeping her team within striking distance.

Alyssa Wiebe (Saskatoon, SK) got the Canadians on the board first just before the midway point of the middle frame, gathering in a rebound in front of Fujimoto and flipping a backhand past the sprawling Japanese goaltender. Jacquie Colborne (Calgary, AB) and Saleah Morrison (Selkirk, MB) picked up the assists on the tournament’s opening goal.

Japan finally gave their goaltender some offence late in the period, as a point shot from Tomoko Sakagami eluded Canada Black goaltender Delayne Brian (Winnipeg, MB), knotting the game at 1-1.

After a back-and-forth third period that featured chances for both teams, Spooner’s goal avoided overtime and clinched the win for her team, getting them off to a 1-0 start ahead of Friday night’s game with Canada Red.

Brian turned aside seven of the eight shots she faced, while Alexandra Garcia (Pointe Claire, QC) stopped nine of the shots against her in the opening period-and-a-half.

Japan returns to the ice at Father David Bauer Arena on Friday afternoon when they take on Canada White.