By The Canadian Press

Ismael scores three goals as Canada routs Sweden at U18 women’s hockey worlds

Jan 13, 2026 | 5:41 PM

MEMBERTOU, NOVA SCOTIA — Sofia Ismael scored three goals and added an assist as Canada defeated Sweden 9-2 Tuesday at the world under-18 women’s hockey championship.

Rosalie Tremblay had two goals and was named player of the game, while Rachel Piggott, Kate Viel, Hayley McDonald and Alida Korte also scored for the Canadians. Lea-Rose Charrois made nine saves.

Moa Stridh and Tilde Grillfors scored for Sweden. Thea Holmberg allowed seven goals on 25 shots before making way for Meja Engelin, who made 11 saves on 13 shots in relief.

“We were waiting to see how we would respond to a goal against, and I think we had a good response. Our bench stayed pretty light and it got everyone going; to be able to respond like we did is important for us at this point of the tournament,” said Canadian coach Vicky Sunohara.

“We are getting better every day, getting used to playing with each other, becoming more predictable to each other and that is really important. We need to continue to focus on the structure that we are implementing and focus on our habits and details. We will take some time tomorrow, recharge and get ready for Finland.”

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Canada finished the preliminary round atop in Group A with nine points from three regulation wins and will face Finland in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

“Right after (Sweden’s) first goal — which is not the start we wanted to have — we turned it around, got a goal and the goals kept coming. Adversity as a team makes us grow,” said Ismael. “(Our play) was better tonight, we were stronger on pucks and harder on shots; it was a good game overall.”

Sweden finished in second in the group with six points from two regulation wins and a regulation loss and will next face Slovakia.

Canada is the defending women’s U18 champion and has won three of the last four tournaments.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 13, 2026.

The Canadian Press