2025 Women’s U18 World Championships: Australia loses opener to Spain

The Australian women’s national under-18 team have lost 2–3 to the Spanish women’s national under-18 team in their opening game of the 2025 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship Division I Group B tournament in Katowice, Poland. Australia’s goals were scored by Eleanor Bartter and Johanna Meissner, both being their first in international competition. The IIHF award for best Australian player of the match was given to defender Lily Roberts. The result is a marked improvement when compared to last year where Australia lost 0–9 to Spain.

In the other games of the day, Poland defeated South Korea 4–1 and Denmark shutout China 4–0. At the end of the first round, Australia sits fourth on the standings while Denmark leads with three points. Australia takes on Denmark today for their second game of the tournament. The two teams last met at the 2018 World Championships where Denmark won 9–1.

Results

Australia	2–3	Spain
SOG: 24	(1–0, 1–0, 0–3)	SOG: 19

South Korea	1–4	Poland
SOG: 15	(0–0, 0–2, 1–2)	SOG: 49

China	0–4	Denmark
SOG: 11	(0–1, 0–1, 0–2)	SOG: 33

Standings

Pos	+/–	Team	GP	W	OTW	OTL	L	PTS
1	–	Denmark	1	1	0	0	0	3
2	–	Poland	1	1	0	0	0	3
3	–	Spain	1	1	0	0	0	3
4	–	Australia	1	0	0	0	1	0
5	–	South Korea	1	0	0	0	1	0
6	–	China	1	0	0	0	1	0

Further information

• Tournament page on IIHF.com
• Tournament schedule
• Australia’s team roster
• Livestream of the tournament via YouTube