# 2015 IIHF U18 Women's World Championship

The 2015 IIHF U18 Women's World Championship was the eighth IIHF U18 Women's World Championship. The top division tournament was played in Buffalo, United States, from 5 to 12 January 2015. Twenty nations played in three levels, with promotion and relegation for the top and bottom teams at each level.
The United States won their fourth title defeating Canada in overtime in the gold medal game, with Jincy Roese scoring on the power play. This was the eighth consecutive final between the two nations, evening their all-time records. The bronze medal game was also a rematch from the previous year, this time the Russians defeated the Czechs earning their first ever medal at this level.
In Division I play the French earned their first ever promotion to the top level. They opened the tournament with a shootout win over Norway and won the rest of their games earning a trip to St. Catherines for 2016.

## Format

The preliminary round is divided into two pools that placed the top four seeds into Group A, and the bottom four in Group B. The top two finishers in Group A advances directly to the semifinals, while the two remaining teams and the top two in Group B will play a quarterfinal round. The bottom two teams from Group B will play a relegation series to determine the one team that gets relegated.

## Preliminary round

All times are local (UTC–5).

### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | United States (H) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 2 | +10 | 8 | Advance to semifinals |
| 2 | Canada | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 5 | +6 | 7 | Advance to semifinals |
| 3 | Russia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 11 | −5 | 3 | Advance to quarterfinals |
| 4 | Czech Republic | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 13 | −11 | 0 | Advance to quarterfinals |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Sweden | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 5 | +3 | 6 | Advance to quarterfinals |
| 2 | Finland | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 5 | +2 | 6 | Advance to quarterfinals |
| 3 | Switzerland | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 6 | Advance to relegation round |
| 4 | Japan | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 10 | −5 | 0 | Advance to relegation round |

## Relegation series

The third and fourth placed team from Group B will play a best-of-three series to determine the relegated team.

## Final round

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final | Final |
| | | | A1 | United States | 5 | | | |
| A4 | Czech Republic | 4 | A4 | Czech Republic | 0 | | | |
| B1 | Sweden | 3 | | | | A1 | United States | 3 |
| | | | | | | A2 | Canada | 2 |
| | | | A2 | Canada | 3 |
| A3 | Russia | 4 | A3 | Russia | 1 |
| B2 | Finland | 3 | | | | Third place | Third place | Third place |
| | | | | | | A4 | Czech Republic | 1 |
| | | | | | | A3 | Russia | 5 |

### Final rankings

| Pos | Grp | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Final result |
| 1 | A | United States (H) | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 4 | +16 | 13 | Champions |
| 2 | A | Canada | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 9 | +7 | 11 | Runners-up |
| 3 | A | Russia | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 16 | 18 | −2 | 9 | Third place |
| 4 | A | Czech Republic | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 26 | −19 | 3 | Fourth place |
| 5 | B | Finland | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 9 | +4 | 9 | Fifth place game |
| 6 | B | Sweden | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 12 | −1 | 6 | Fifth place game |
| 7 | B | Switzerland | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 8 | +2 | 11 | Win Relegation game |
| 8 | B | Japan | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 15 | −7 | 1 | Relegation to Division I A |

## Tournament awards
### Best players selected by the directorate

| Best Goalkeeper | Valeria Tarakanova |
| Best Defenseman | Jincy Roese |
| Best Forward | Sarah Potomak |
Source:

### Media All Stars

| Goalkeeper | Valeria Tarakanova |
| Defenceman | Jincy Roese |
| Defenceman | Micah Hart |
| Forward | Fanuza Kadirova |
| Forward | Sarah Potomak |
| Forward | Melissa Samoskevich |
| Most Valuable Player | Sarah Potomak |
Source:

## Statistics
### Scoring leaders

| Pos | Player | Country | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| 1 | Sarah Potomak | Canada | 5 | 5 | 4 | 9 | +8 | 4 |
| 2 | Rebecca Gilmore | United States | 5 | 2 | 7 | 9 | +4 | 6 |
| 3 | Melissa Samoskevich | United States | 5 | 6 | 2 | 8 | +6 | 6 |
| 4 | Fanuza Kadirova | Russia | 6 | 5 | 3 | 8 | +5 | 0 |
| 5 | Jincy Roese | United States | 5 | 3 | 5 | 8 | +4 | 0 |
| 6 | Élizabeth Giguère | Canada | 5 | 3 | 4 | 7 | +7 | 6 |
| 6 | Anna Shokhina | Russia | 5 | 3 | 4 | 7 | +7 | 0 |
| 8 | Anniina Kaitala | Finland | 5 | 2 | 4 | 6 | +3 | 0 |
| 9 | Sanni Hakala | Finland | 5 | 5 | 0 | 5 | +1 | 4 |
| 9 | Alina Müller | Switzerland | 5 | 5 | 0 | 5 | – | 4 |
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = P Plus–minus; PIM = Penalties In Minutes Source: IIHF.com

### Goaltending leaders

(minimum 40% team's total ice time)
| Pos | Player | Country | TOI | GA | GAA | Sv% | SO |
| 1 | Andrea Brändli | Switzerland | 310:00 | 8 | 1.55 | 94.94 | 1 |
| 2 | Anni Keisala | Finland | 240:00 | 5 | 1.25 | 94.74 | 1 |
| 3 | Kaitlin Burt | United States | 225:51 | 4 | 1.06 | 92.31 | 0 |
| 4 | Marlène Boissonnault | Canada | 245:51 | 7 | 1.71 | 91.95 | 0 |
| 5 | Valeria Tarakanova | Russia | 328:02 | 15 | 2.74 | 91.85 | 0 |
TOI = Time on ice (minutes:seconds); GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; Sv% = Save percentage; SO = Shutouts Source: IIHF.com

## Division I
### Division I 'A'

The Division I 'A' tournament was played in Vaujany, France, from 4 to 10 January 2015.
| Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| France | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 9 | +12 | 14 | Promoted to the 2016 Top Division |
| Norway | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 9 | +5 | 12 | |
| Slovakia | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 18 | 24 | −6 | 7 | |
| Germany | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 20 | 15 | +5 | 6 | |
| Hungary | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 13 | −3 | 6 | |
| Austria | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 19 | −13 | 0 | Relegated to the 2016 Division I Qualification |

### Division I Qualification

The Division I Qualification tournament was played in Katowice, Poland, from 19 to 25 January 2015. Denmark won all five games in their debut, earning promotion to the Division I 'A' tournament for 2016.
| Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion |
| Denmark | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 2 | +27 | 15 | Promoted to the 2016 Division I |
| Italy | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 8 | +3 | 12 | |
| Poland | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 21 | 12 | +9 | 9 | |
| Kazakhstan | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 14 | −8 | 5 | |
| China | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 19 | −16 | 4 | |
| Great Britain | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 18 | −15 | 0 | |