# 2018 IIHF U18 Women's World Championship

The 2018 IIHF U18 Women's World Championship was the 11th IIHF U18 Women's World Championship in ice hockey. It was played at the Ice Palace in Dmitrov, Russia from 6 to 13 January 2018. The USA won for the seventh time, for the first time defeating someone other than Canada in the gold medal game. Sweden took silver, while Canada took bronze beating host Russia. The Russians beat Canada in the preliminary round, marking another first.
On 4 January 2018, the Ice Hockey Federation of Russia announced that all entry tickets would be free as part of their program.

## Top Division
### Preliminary round

All times are local (UTC+3).

#### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | United States | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 6 | +7 | 8 | Advance to semifinals |
| 2 | Sweden | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | −3 | 4 | Advance to semifinals |
| 3 | Russia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 9 | −3 | 3 | Advance to quarterfinals |
| 4 | Canada | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 9 | −1 | 3 | Advance to quarterfinals |
* 1 2 Canada 2–3 Russia

#### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Czech Republic | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 7 | +1 | 7 | Advance to quarterfinals |
| 2 | Finland | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 6 | +3 | 6 | Advance to quarterfinals |
| 3 | Germany | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 6 | −1 | 5 | Advance to relegation round |
| 4 | Switzerland | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 9 | −3 | 0 | Advance to relegation round |

### Relegation round

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

### Final round
#### Bracket

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final | Final |
| | | | A1 | United States (GWS) | 4 | | | |
| A4 | Canada | 3 | A4 | Canada | 3 | | | |
| B1 | Czech Republic | 1 | | | | A1 | United States | 9 |
| | | | | | | A2 | Sweden | 3 |
| | | | A2 | Sweden | 2 |
| A3 | Russia | 2 | A3 | Russia | 1 |
| B2 | Finland | 0 | | | | Third place | Third place | Third place |
| | | | | | | A3 | Russia | 1 |
| | | | | | | A4 | Canada | 5 |

#### Gold medal game
### Final ranking

| Pos | Grp | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Final result |
| 1 | A | United States | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 12 | +14 | 14 | Champions |
| 2 | A | Sweden | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 16 | −8 | 7 | Runners-up |
| 3 | A | Canada | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 19 | 15 | +4 | 10 | Third place |
| 4 | A | Russia (H) | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 16 | −6 | 6 | Fourth place |
| 5 | B | Finland | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 9 | +2 | 9 | Fifth place game |
| 6 | B | Czech Republic | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 12 | −2 | 7 | Fifth place game |
| 7 | B | Switzerland | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 16 | 12 | +4 | 6 | Advance in Relegation |
| 8 | B | Germany | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 16 | −8 | 5 | Relegation to Division I A |

### Tournament awards
#### Most Valuable Player

Taylor Heise

#### All-star team

* Goaltender: Anna Amholt
* Defencemen: Maja Nylén Persson, Alexie Guay
* Forwards: Taylor Heise, Ilona Markova, Makenna Webster
Source:

#### Best players selected by the directorate

* Best Goalkeeper Anna Amholt
* Best Defenseman Gracie Ostertag
* Best Forward Taylor Heise
Source:

### Statistics
#### Scoring leaders

| Pos | Player | Country | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| 1 | Lisa Rüedi | Switzerland | 5 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Rahel Enzler | Switzerland | 5 | 3 | 6 | 9 | +2 | 0 |
| 3 | Makenna Webster | United States | 5 | 2 | 7 | 9 | +8 | 0 |
| 4 | Britta Curl | United States | 5 | 4 | 4 | 8 | +6 | 2 |
| 4 | Taylor Heise | United States | 5 | 4 | 4 | 8 | +7 | 12 |
| 6 | Dominique Petrie | United States | 5 | 3 | 5 | 8 | +7 | 8 |
| 7 | Kristýna Kaltounková | Czech Republic | 5 | 3 | 4 | 7 | +6 | 10 |
| 8 | Elisa Holopainen | Finland | 5 | 1 | 6 | 7 | +7 | 0 |
| 9 | Alexie Guay | Canada | 6 | 1 | 6 | 7 | +2 | 10 |
| 10 | Abigail Murphy | United States | 5 | 4 | 2 | 6 | +6 | 2 |
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 | Sanni Ahola | Finland | 299:07 | 9 | 1.81 | 92.91 | 0 |
| 2 | Diana Farkhutdinova | Russia | 343:23 | 12 | 2.10 | 92.45 | 1 |
| 3 | Anna Amholt | Sweden | 208:25 | 11 | 3.17 | 91.85 | 1 |
| 4 | Saskia Maurer | Switzerland | 297:52 | 12 | 2.42 | 91.37 | 1 |
| 5 | Kristýna Bláhová | Czech Republic | 301:36 | 12 | 2.39 | 90.98 | 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 Group A tournament was held in Asiago, Italy from 8 to 14 January 2018.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Japan | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 1 | +20 | 15 | Promoted to the 2019 Top Division |
| 2 | Slovakia | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 18 | 11 | +7 | 11 | |
| 3 | Italy (H) | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 14 | −1 | 7 | |
| 4 | Austria | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 17 | −7 | 6 | |
| 5 | Hungary | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 18 | −10 | 4 | |
| 6 | Norway | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 13 | −9 | 2 | Relegated to the 2019 Division I B |

### Division I B

The Group B tournament was held in Katowice, Poland from 6 to 12 January 2018.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Denmark | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 3 | +27 | 15 | Promoted to the 2019 Division I A |
| 2 | France | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 6 | +10 | 12 | |
| 3 | Poland (H) | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 17 | 9 | +8 | 9 | |
| 4 | China | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 22 | −13 | 5 | |
| 5 | Great Britain | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 15 | −8 | 3 | |
| 6 | Australia | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 30 | −24 | 1 | Relegated to the 2019 Division I B Qualification |

### Division I B Qualification

The Group B Qualification tournament was held in Mexico City, Mexico from 30 January to 4 February 2018.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion |
| 1 | Netherlands | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 5 | +20 | 12 | Promoted to the 2019 Division I B |
| 2 | Mexico (H) | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 9 | +2 | 9 | |
| 3 | Spain | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 16 | 9 | +7 | 6 | |
| 4 | Kazakhstan | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 20 | 13 | +7 | 3 | |
| 5 | Turkey | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 39 | −36 | 0 | |