2025 Worlds Quarterfinals Recap: USA Overpowers Germany, Czechia Sails Past Switzerland

In the second and third quarterfinal games of the 2025 Worlds, Team USA overpowered Germany 3-0 despite a brilliant performance from goaltender Sandra Abstreiter, and Czechia later breezed past Switzerland 7-0.

Kicking things off with USA-Germany, Germany did what they could to limit quality chances early, but it wasn’t long before the Americans opened the scoring. Kelly Pannek continued her outstanding tournament when she sent an Abbey Murphy feed home for her third of the tournament at 5:36. Laila Edwards picked up the secondary assist for her first point since the tournament opener against Finland.

Just over five minutes later, Lacey Eden notched her first goal of the tournament after potting a Haley Winn rebound. Taylor Heise got credit for the secondary assist, which was also her first point since the Finland game.

The Germans had a strong start to the second period, limiting the Americans to just one shot on goal in the first eight and a half minutes. The U.S. soon took back over, but goaltender Sandra Abstreiter was up to the task. It took them nearly the entire period to crack her again, but finally, Alex Carpenter broke into the zone in a 2v1 with Hilary Knight crashing the net. Carpenter attempted to pass it over tonight, but it deflected off a sliding Ronja Hark and into the net to give the U.S. a 3-0 lead at 18:53. Tessa Janecke picked up the secondary assist.

Carpenter’s goal capped off the scoring, and the Americans sailed past Germany 3-0 while outshooting them 51-12. However, one look at the shot total should tell you that the score should have been much worse. The only reason it wasn’t was Abstreiter’s brilliance. She’s the Montréal Victoire’s third goaltender this season, and the only game action she’s seen has been in international tournaments. But that hasn’t slowed her down. She finished the tournament with a 2.22 GAA and 0.923 SV% despite Germany only winning two out of five games.

Overall, the 26-year-old netminder was pleased with her team’s performance despite the loss.

“I’m really tired,” Abstreiter said with a smile in the IIHF recap. “We honestly held them off pretty well. They were obviously dominating us for the whole game, but I think we held up against them pretty well. I don’t think we made it super easy for them.”

This was the eighth all-time meeting between these countries at the Worlds. The U.S. holds a perfect record and has outscored Germany 77-2. Their last meeting came back in the 2023 quarterfinals, which was also a 3-0 U.S. win despite a brilliant performance from Abstreiter, who turned aside 49 shots. 

Next up, barring a stunning upset in the Canada/Japan game, the U.S. will face off against Czechia in Saturday's semifinals.

Czechia vs Switzerland

Czechia faced off against Switzerland in the third quarterfinal game today with their eyes locked on securing a chance to play for a medal in front of their home crowd. They didn’t waste much time making sure that happened. The University of Minnesota’s Natálie Mlynková netted a hat trick and Czechia’s eight PWHL skaters combined for ten points en route to a 7-0 rout of Switzerland.

“I’m so proud of this team,” defender Daniela Pejšová said in the IIHF recap. “There was really a team effort in this game. All the things we said before the game, we did, and that’s how we won. We played as one, and that’s the key to success.”

Pejšová kicked off the scoring just 16 seconds after Czechia successfully killed a penalty. She eked one past Swiss goaltender Andrea Brändli at 11:47 to put her team in the lead.

Soon after, Switzerland took a penalty that led to the floodgates fully opening for Czechia. Just 10 seconds into the power play, Mlynková scored her first of the tournament. 

25 seconds later, Tereza Vanišová potted her second of the tournament at 13:40.

Towards the end of the period, Kristýna Kaltounková added a fourth goal and Denisa Kříšová contributed another in the waning seconds to give Czechia a 5-0 lead heading into the first intermission. Shots were 10-6 in favor of the home team.

Switzerland put backup goaltender Saskia Maurer in to start the second period. Luckily for her, the offense calmed down, with no goals scored and Czechia tallying seven shots to Switzerland’s five. However, both teams headed off to the box at least once, with the Swiss getting called for tripping and Czechia heading off for interference and then an illegal hit.

In the third period, Mlynková continued her stellar game, netting another power-play goal and later a shorthanded one to complete the hat trick.

“I couldn’t be happier for her,” Kaltounková said of Mlynková in the IIHF recap. “She deserves it so much. She played such a good game. She’s been working really hard, and she’s a great teammate. So happy she got to experience it. The crowd chanting, it’s such an unbelievable and unforgettable moment. I’m sure she’ll remember it forever.”

The win was Czechia’s second over Switzerland this tournament after defeating them 3-0 in the preliminary round. They move on to Saturday's semifinals, where they will likely face the United States, who defeated them 4-0 in group play. As long as the IIHF's "Tournament Info" page is followed, they will get the early game since they're the host country, meaning they'll take the ice at 3 p.m. local/9 a.m. ET.

As for the Swiss, this game was the latest disappointment in a tournament full of them. They’ll play in the fifth-place game on Saturday, where they'll likely meet Sweden. If that is the case, they'll be the higher-ranked team, but Alina Müller's unassisted goal against Finland was the long Swiss tally of the tournament. Their offense has been practically non-existent, and it’s hard to see them finding it in time to beat a Swedish team that nearly became the rare Group B team to play for a medal.