Finland’s young lionesses defeated Russia to take the bronze medal in the 2019 World Women’s Under-18 Ice Hockey Championship in Obihiro, Japan.
The Finnish juniors trounced their eastern neighbours 3-0 to take third place after an impressive run in the tournament.
The first period of the game was scoreless as each team took the measure of the opposition. However Finland opened the scoring in the second period when Viivi Vainikka and Elli Suoranta found the back of the net within half a minute of each other.
Later in the match, Julia Liikala found herself facing an open goal and did not miss the opportunity to settle the outcome for the young Finns.
Goalie Erica Jaskari proved her mettle by engaging in acrobatics to deny the Russians a chance to score, especially in light of penalties awarded to the other side in the third period.
The bronze is only Finland’s second in the women’s under-18 tournament. On Sunday Canada defeated the US 3-2 in overtime for the gold.