2008-09 National Women's Under-18 Team

JAPAN INTO CHAMPIONSHIP GAME AT WOMEN’S U18 CAMP AFTER WIN OVER CANADA WHITE

There will be no all-Canadian match-up in the championship game of the National Women’s Under-18 Team selection camp on Sunday in Calgary – Yae Kawashima took care of that on Friday night.

Kawashima scored with just over four minutes remaining, giving Japan a 2-1 win over Canada White and sending the team from the Far East into Sunday’s final game against Canada Red – the same team Japan will face on Saturday afternoon (2:45 p.m.) in the round-robin finale.

Japan’s win gives them four points from three games (a win and an overtime loss), while the Canadians finish with three points (an overtime win and an overtime loss) from their four contests.

Hard work from the opening face-off led to an early powerplay for Japan and Yurie Adachi put her team ahead, converting with the man advantage by backhanding a loose puck past Canada White goaltender Cassie Seguin (Ingleside, ON) just 3:20 into the game.

The Japanese controlled much of the play in the opening 20 minutes, outshooting Canada White 12-4, and took their one-goal lead into the first intermission.

The Canadians came out with more jump in the middle frame, but it took until Tara Tomimoto (Calgary, AB) snapped a shot home just past the midway point of the period for Canada White to get a puck past diminutive Japanese netminder Azusa Nakaoku, who turned in her second strong performance of the camp.

With the game tied in the third period, Canada White had a glorious opportunity to take the lead when Elarie Leclair-Célestin (Varennes, QC) was pulled down on a breakway and awarded a penalty shot.

With Leclair-Célestin injured on the play, Jamie Lee Rattray (Kanata, ON) stepped up to take the penalty shot, but her forehand deke could not beat Nakaoku, who made 22 saves in the win.

Canada White found themselves in deep penalty trouble in the final half of the period, taking three minor penalties in a stretch of 2:07, but killed off the two-man advantage – although the Japanese missed a number of point-blank chances to take the lead.

With play back at five-on-five, a Canada White defender fell at the Japanese blueline, allowing Kawashima and Tomoko Sakagami to break in on a two-on-one.

Sakagami’s pass was right onto the stick of Kawashima, who redirected it through the legs of Seguin to restore Japan’s one-goal lead.

A wild scramble in the dying seconds with Seguin on the bench provided plenty of chances for Canada White to draw even once again, but Nakaoku and the Japanese defence stood tall, clinching second place and the championship game berth.

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Final

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Goals/Buts :
JPN – Yurie Adachi (Aki Fujii, Tomoe Yamane) 3:20 PP

Penalties/Pénalités :
WHT – Shelby Nisbet (High Sticking) 2:27
JPN – Tomomi Iwahara (Hooking) 12:28

Goals/Buts :
WHT – Tara Tomimoto (Jessica Wong, Kathryn Miller) 10:41

Penalties/Pénalités :
JPN – Tomoko Sakagami (Tripping) 1:19
JPN – Emi Nonaka (Hooking) 11:57
WHT – Alex Normore (Hooking) 13:40
WHT – Kaleigh Fratkin (Body Contact) 15:31
JPN – Chiaki Yamanaka (Interference) 16:42
JPN – Etsuko Wada (Holding the Stick) 18:45

Goals/Buts :
JPN – Yae Kawashima (Tomoko Sakagami, Yuka Hirano) 15:49

Penalties/Pénalités :
JPN – Etsuko Wada (Tripping) 4:07
WHT – Candice Styles (High Sticking) 10:19
WHT – Kaleigh Fratkin (Crosschecking) 11:57
WHT – Holly Carrie-Mattimoe (Tripping) 12:26
WHT – Jessica Wong (Roughing) 16:04