Canada gets revenge on Czechs, to battle U.S. for gold supremacy at women's U18 hockey worlds

The Canadian women advance to Sunday's gold-medal game while getting revenge on the Czech Republic following a 4-2 win on Saturday in the semifinals at the women's U18 hockey world championship in Finland.

Caileigh Tiller and Stryker Zablocki each had a goal and an assist, while Hayley McDonald and Sofia Ismael also scored for Canada.

Czechs Linda Vocetkova and Julie Jebouskova both scored and Daniela Novakova made 43 saves.

"I just told our players to keep sticking to our habits and details — there's lots of game left, take a deep breath and play the type of hockey we know how to play," said head coach Vicky Sunohara.

"We knew [the Czechs] would be physical. They have a really good goalie, and if we don't have good net-front presence they'll gain momentum. It happened for a bit, but I thought we did a better job as the game went on to make it difficult for them."

Primerano joins elite company

Chloe Primerano contributed two helpers for the Canadians and goalie Marilou Grenier stopped 19 of the 21 shots she faced.

The 18-year-old from North Vancouver, B.C., now has 37 points with Canada's U18 women's team, surpassing Caitlin Kraemer for the most ever. Primerano also equalled hockey legend Marie-Philip Poulin for the most points by a Canadian at the U18 women's worlds (26).

"Obviously with the records, I couldn't have done it without my teammates, but I think a gold medal would mean a lot more," Primerano said.

"It just means everything to get a chance to play against the U.S. and you couldn't have written a better story. We'll just go out there, play as a team and play how we know how to play and hopefully we can come out with the win."

Canada also gained a measure of revenge on the Czechs. It was in last year's tournament where the Czech Republic stunned the Canadians in the semis.

The win means Canada finds itself in another gold-medal battle against the defending champion Americans, who held off Sweden 2-1 in the first semifinal game.

All previous editions of the U18 world championship have been either won by the U.S. (9) or Canada (7).