February 6, 2003
Salzgitter, Gemany

Canada's National Under-22 women's hockey team opened the European Air Canada Cup with a 4-1 win over Finland Thursday.

A defensive first period resulted in both teams going to the dressing room with a 0-0 tie. Canadian goaltender Charline Labonté stopped eight shots, keeping the game scoreless.

Canada came out gunning in the second as Valerie Hall converted a Lara Perks feed just 21 seconds in to open the scoring. Meghan Hunter and Brigitte Laflamme scored 1:53 apart later in the period to give Canada a 3-0 lead. Cassandra Turner padded Canada's lead with a goal late in the period, giving Canada a 4-0 lead with 20 minutes to play.

Finland broke up Labonté's shutout bid with just under five minutes to play with a powerplay goal. Finland's lone goal was not enough as Canada skated away with the 4-1 victory.

Labonté recorded the win between the pipes for Canada, stopping 19 of 20 shots she faced.

Canada's next game at the Eurpean Air Canada Cup will be Friday when they face Switzerland at 9:00am (EST) in Hannover, Germany.