OSTERSUND, Sweden –
Canada saved its most dominant effort for last.
Caitlin Kraemer led the way with four goals as Canada routed Sweden 10-0 to claim its second consecutive gold medal at the women’s world under-18 hockey championship on Sunday.
Alexia Aubin, with two goals, Abby Lunney, Piper Grober, Mackenzie Alexander and Charlotte Pieckenhagen also scored for Canada, which went undefeated throughout the tournament.
Hannah Clark had a 21-save shutout for Canada, which repeated for the first time in nine years.
“It feels amazing, I love this team so much, I love everyone. It’s just an amazing feeling,” Clark said post-game.
“That’s all my team, they played amazing. They were relentless the whole (tournament).”
The performance catapulted Kraemer atop the leaderboard for goals scored in the tournament. She finished with 10 goals in five games, surpassing Marie-Philip Poulin for most goals scored in a single tournament by a Canadian.
The 16-year-old Kraemer also set a new record for fastest three goals by an individual player at the women’s under-18 worlds, scoring her first three in the opening 12 minutes of the game.
“We’re not keeping track of points here, we just care about getting the win,” Kraemer said during the first intermission. “It’s pretty cool, but then again, I just care about winning.”
Felicia Frank surrendered five goals in 12 minutes before making way for Ida Henriksson. Henriksson stopped 26-of-31 shots in relief for Sweden.
The United States defeated Finland 5-0 to grab bronze earlier Sunday.
Canada got off to a blistering start thanks to Kraemer. After being held scoreless in Saturday’s semifinal for the first time in the tournament, the Waterloo, Ont., native netted two quick goals.
Kraemer opened the scoring 5:16 into the contest before adding her second 25 seconds later.
Aubin joined in on the fun at 9:41 when she redirected an Ava Murphy shot into the net. Murphy had three assists in the game.
Grober made it 4-0 with a wrist shot on the power play at 10:01.
At the 12-minute mark, Kraemer completed the hat trick on a 2-on-1 break, beating Frank top corner.
“We wanted to come in with lots of energy and stick with our habits really quick and I think that came through,” Kraemer said about the fast start after the first period.
Aubin added her second of the game 3:54 into the middle frame. After a Sweden turnover, Pieckenhagen sent Aubin on a breakaway and she beat Henriksson with a backhand shot.
Less than 90 seconds later, Lunney scored on a rebound to make it a 7-0 game.
Alexander added to the advantage at 8:29 of the second.
Pieckenhagen joined in on the scoring just 52 seconds into the third.
Kraemer scored on the power play 9:17 into the final frame, when she netted a rebound off Emma Venusio one-timer.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 15, 2023.
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