On the second day of the IIHF Division II B World Championship in New Zealand, Belgium faced the host nation. In front of an enthusiastic home crowd of around 450 fans, New Zealand came out on top with a 3-1 win.
Belgium started off strong. Early in the first period, #11 Linnore Saunders had two excellent chances to put Belgium ahead, but the New Zealand goalie stopped both breakaways. On the other end, it was mainly thanks to the outstanding performance of Belgian goaltender #20 Charlotte Swinnen, who made no less than 15 saves in the opening period, that the score remained 0-0 after twenty minutes. The shot count told the story: 15 to 8 in favour of the Kiwis.
New Zealand also began the second period on a 1-minute-and-46-second power play and took control. First came the 1-0 goal, with the puck slowly sliding across the line. Shortly after, the hosts doubled their lead after winning a face-off and scoring off a rebound. Belgium, however, answered quickly: just 28 seconds later, #9 Anke Steeno broke free and scored beautifully with a forehand-backhand move, narrowing the score to 2-1. The Kiwis remained the more dangerous side, with a 13 to 7 shot advantage in the second period.
New Zealand kept pressing in the third period. Although Swinnen made an early save, she could not stop Katya Blong’s coast-to-coast effort, which ended with a hard, low slap shot into the far corner to make it 3-1. Belgium struggled to create any chances in the final minutes and could be grateful that the score didn’t increase further. Thanks once again to the stellar play of Swinnen, the damage was kept in check. Halfway through the final period, the shot count was 11-0; by the end, it stood at 17 to 3. Overall, New Zealand had 48 shots compared to Belgium’s 17.
Belgium’s MVP of the game was deservedly #9 Anke Steeno handed over by the CEO IIHF Luc Tardif