2015 IIHF World Women's U18 Championship

The 2015 IIHF World Women's U18 Championships was the eighth World Women's U18 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 Dunne 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.French fly to Canada
==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.detailed format and tie-breaking procedure
==Preliminary round==
All times are local (UTC–5).
Legend
Advances to the Semifinals
Advances to the Quarterfinals
Play in the Relegation Round
===Group A===
===Group B===
==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===
===Semifinals===
===Fifth place game===
===Bronze medal game===
===Gold medal game===
==Final standings==
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4 	
5 	
6 	
7 	 
8 	
Relegated to the 2016 Division I
==Tournament awards==
;Best players selected by the directorate
Best Goalkeeper	Valeria Tarakanova
Best Defenseman	Jincy Dunne
Best Forward 	Sarah Potomak
Source: IIHF.com
;Media All Stars
Goalkeeper 	Valeria Tarakanova
Defenceman 	Jincy Dunne
Defenceman 	Micah Hart
Forward 	Fanuza Kadirova
Forward 	Sarah Potomak
Forward 	Melissa Samoskevich
Most Valuable Player	Sarah Potomak
Source: IIHF.com
== Statistics ==
=== Scoring leaders ===
Pos	Player 	Country	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
1 	Sarah Potomak 	 	5 	5	4	9 	+8 	4
2 	Rebecca Gilmore 	 	5 	2	7	9 	+4 	6
3 	Melissa Samoskevich	 	5 	6	2	8 	+6 	6
4 	Fanuza Kadirova 	 	6 	5	3	8 	+5 	0
5 	Jincy Dunne 	 	5 	3	5	8 	+4 	0
6 	Elizabeth Giguere 	 	5 	3	4	7 	+7 	6
6 	Anna Shokhina 	 	5 	3	4	7 	+7 	0
8 	Annilina Kaitala 	 	5 	2	4	6 	+3 	0
9 	Sanni Hakala 	 	5 	5	0	5 	+1 	4
9 	Alina Müller 	 	5 	5	0	5 	– 	4
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus-minus; PIM = Penalties In MinutesSource: IIHF.com
=== Goaltending leaders ===
(minimum 40% team's total ice time)
Pos	Player 	Country	TOI 	GA	GAA 	Sv% 	SO
1 	Andrea Brandli 	 	310:00	8 	1.55	94.94	1
2 	Anni Keisala 	 	240:00	5 	1.25	94.74	1
3 	Kaitlin Burt 	 	225:51	4 	1.06	92.31	0
4 	Marlene Boissonnault	 	245:51	7 	1.71	91.95	0
5 	Valeria Tarakanova 	 	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 = ShutoutsSource: IIHF.com
==Division I==
===Division I 'A'===
The Division I 'A' tournament was played in Vaujany, France, from 4 to 10 January 2015.Division I statistics
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Promoted to the 2016 Top Division	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. Division I Qual. statistics Denmark won all five games in their debut, earning promotion to the Division I 'A' tournament for 2016.
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Promoted to the 2016 Division I
==References==
==External links==
* Official website
* AllSportDB.com Event page
* 2015 IIHF World Women's U18 Championship at Eurohockey.com
Category:IIHF World Women's U18 Championships
Category:2015 in hockey