#kiira yrjanen

[auroraliiga]

🇫🇮 Naisleijonat secured their return to Group A with a win over 🇸🇪 Damkronorna in the Placement Round! Swedish Captain Anna Kjellbin opened the scoring with a goal 48 seconds into the first and Finnish Captain Jenni Hiirikoski scored an equalizer on the power play halfway through the period. Kiira Yrjänen scored her first Women's Worlds goal in the second and Noora Tulus notched her second goal and tenth point of the tournament with under three minutes left in the third. Goaltender Sanni Ahola turned away 18 of 19 shots for her third win of the tournament.

[ateeztism]

Women’s U18 Day One Game Three Recap - USA vs FIN (December 26, 2019)

Other Recaps From Today: SUI/CZE - CAN/RUS - SWE/SVK 

Brief Recap:

United States vs Finland - 9:30am - United States wins 4 - 1 

In-depth Recap

Game 3 of the First Day (Game 3 of the Tournament) - United States vs. Finland - 9:30am

Final Score: United States - 4 / Finland - 1 (USA wins in regulation)

United States Goal Scorers: Abbey Murphy (1), Clara van Wieren (1), Audrey Wethington (1), Rory Guilday (1)

Finnish Goal Scorers: Kiira Yrjanen (1)

Box Score:

1st Period:

UNITED STATES GOAL - Scored by Abbey Murphy, assisted by Haley Winn

FINLAND GOAL - Scored by Kiira Yrjanen, assisted by Sofianna Sundelin and Sanni Rantala 

2nd Period:

UNITED STATES GOAL - Scored by Clara van Wieren, assisted by Lacey Eden

UNITED STATES GOAL - Scored by Audrey Wethington, assisted by Kiara Zanon and Maggie Nicholson

3rd Period:

UNITED STATES GOAL - Scored by Rory Guilday, assisted by Lacey Eden

American Player of the Game: Kiara Zanon (1 assist, 1 shot, +1)

Finnish Player of the Game: Kiia Lahtinen (47 saves on 51 shots, 0.921 save %)

Player to Watch Out For: Well I try not to put whoever the player of the game was here (and I won’t!) but it’s impossible to not mention Kiia Lahtinen’s stellar performance. The newly sixteen year old’s performance was definitely a bright spot in an otherwise lackluster game for Team Finland. Other than that, it was clear from past performances alone Abbey Murphy has great potential, and she showed that in this game. She had a goal in this game to go along with her SEVEN shots. She has 12 points in 11 games with the U18 program and is committed to the University of Minnesota next year.

This was a game I got to watch, and what a game too! The USA girls, or “eaglets” as I’ve been affectionately calling them, played phenomenally in this game. 51 shots! Penalties were almost even with Team USA being only slightly better disciplined, taking 3 penalties to Finland’s 4. I can’t say I blame Finland for taking that many penalties, considering just how dominant Team USA was. This game could’ve been 8-1 if it weren’t for Kiia Lahtinen just about standing on her head! The game was rather rough for Tyttöleijonat, but if the offense can get going then, with a goalie like that, I think they could be a huge threat and even compete for the gold medal.

[auroraliiga]

Julia Liikala and Kiira Yrjänen • 2017 WW18 + 2023 Women's Worlds

[auroraliiga]

🇫🇷 v 🇫🇮 Second Period Recap

Estelle Duvin scores on Sanni Ahola to get Les Blues on the board! Jenniina Nylund is on hatty watch. Petra Nieminen has three points (1+2). Finland outshot France 22–4.

[auroraliiga]

Finnish National Team 🇫🇮 Naisleijonat roster for the 2020 Worlds in Halifax + Truro

Goaltenders

18 Meeri Räisänen, AIK (SDHL)

31 Jenna Silvonen, Mercyhurst Lakers (NCAA)

41 Noora Räty, KRS Vanke Rays (ZhHL)

Defensemen

4 Rosa Lindstedt, HV71 (SDHL)

6 Jenni Hiirikoski, Luleå (SDHL)

7 Sanni Rantala*, Team Kuortane

9 Nelli Laitinen, Kiekko-Espoo

15 Minnamari Tuominen, Kiekko-Espoo

21 Sini Karjalainen*, Vermont Catamounts (NCAA)

88 Ronja Savolainen, Luleå (SDHL)

Forwards

2 Kiira Yrjänen*, Team Kuortane

10 Elisa Holopainen, KalPa

12 Ida Karjalainen*, HPK

16 Petra Nieminen, Luleå (SDHL)

19 Emmi Rakkolainen*, Kiekko-Espoo

20 Matilda Nilsson*, KalPa

23 Sanni Hakala, HV71 (SDHL)

24 Viivi Vainikka, Team Kuortane

27 Julia Liikala*, HPK

33 Michelle Karvinen, Luleå (SDHL)

40 Noora Tulus, Luleå (SDHL)

61 Tanja Niskanen, KalPa

66 Susanna Tapani, TPS Akatemia

* first time on the Naisleijonat roster for IIHF Worlds

[ateeztism]

Women’s U18 Day Two Game One Recap - FIN vs CAN (December 27, 2019)

Brief Recap:

Finland vs Canada - 5:30am - Canada wins 4 - 1 in regulation

In-depth Recap

Game 1 of the Second Day (Game 5 of Tournament) - Finland vs. Canada - 5:30am

Final Score: Canada - 4 / Finland - 1 (Canada wins in regulation)

Finnish Goal Scorers: Nelli Laitinen (1)

Canadian Goal Scorers: Lindsay Bochna (1), Charlotte Kettyle (1), Maddi Wheeler (1), Emilie Lussier (1)

Box Score:

First Period:

CANADA GOAL - Scored by Lindsay Bochna, assisted by Jenna Buglioni

FINLAND GOAL - Scored by Nelli Laitinen, assisted by Sanni Rantala and Kiira Yrjanen

Second Period:

No Goals Scored

Third Period:

CANADA GOAL - Scored by Charlotte Kettyle, assisted by Marianne Picard

CANADA GOAL - Scored by Maddi Wheeler, assisted by Anne Cherkowski

CANADA GOAL - Scored by Emilie Lussier, assisted by Sarah Wozniewicz

Finnish Player of the Game: Nelli Laitinen (1 goal, 3 shots)

Canadian Player of the Game: Lindsay Bochna (1 goal, 2 shots, +2 rating)

Player(s) to Watch Out For: 

She wasn’t on the score sheet but I have multiple notes (yeah, I took notes what about it) about Tilli Keranen. She was a -2 on the game but no one on Finland had a plus rating, and only four players had an even rating. As a forward her defensive play, particularly her ability to separate opposing players from the puck, really caught my eye! She is currently with Oulun Karpat of the Naisten Liiga and has 1 goal in 4 games! I’m excited to see more from her, especially considering my well known affinity for defense,

On Team Canada, however, I have to say watch out for Anne Cherkowski. She had an assist in this game, good for 4 points in 7 games in her U18 career, to go along with six shots. It was her second assist of the tournament, she had one against Russia yesterday. She lost both faceoffs she took, which is a bit concerning considering Finland isn’t too great on faceoffs, but yesterday against Russia she won 11 of 18 that she took. She had a +1 rating on the game and is committed to the University of Minnesota.

This was a game that I got up EARLY for, unfortunately I had to leave a little less than half way through as I’m still recovering from a concussion so my head couldn’t handle so much exposure to the computer screen so early on in the day. I gotta say though, I liked what I saw out of Finland and it really saddens me that they lost by 3 goals AGAIN. Early in the game I was ripping Finland in my notes, it just didn’t seem like they cared. It seemed like they had already given up on the idea of beating Canada, but the moment they scored that powerplay goal to tie things up it was almost like something clicked in them. They had more energy, they were making more shot attempts, and early in the second their offensive pressure was great. I’ll tell you this, Tyttöleijonat is excellent when it comes to winning the puck back, in all three zones. They are excellent at separating their opponent from the puck, which is good considering how bad they appear on faceoffs. I see three main problems with the Finnish team: 1. FACEOFFS. It seems like even when they “win” the faceoff they NEVER get possession from it, especially in the offensive zone. 2. Shooting. The shots don’t have to be pretty, they just have to go in. In two games Finland has just 23 shots. (10 against the USA, 13 against Canada) Both of their opponents have had more shots in the one game against them than they have had all tournament. They need to just shoot the damn puck. 3. Morale. It seems to me that these lion cubs are just too easily discouraged. At the beginning of this game it looked to me like they just didn’t think they stood a chance so they didn’t try. Once they tied it up they looked excellent, but even though I didn’t see it it’s clear to me that them giving up 3 fairly quick goals in the third was a result of them being tired and losing confidence, they need to believe in themselves more.

Canada has looked EXCELLENT thus far in the tournament, but they have some things they need to work on as well. For one thing, they need to settle down with all those damn penalties. I know it’s only two games in but they’re averaging FIVE penalties per game! They have a total of 22 penalty minutes thus far, having 14 in this game alone, and that is simply unacceptable. They take a lot of stick infractions and they need to just settle it down. Stop swinging your sticks around and just play girls. They also need to watch those icings, they iced it several times against Finland when the game was tied and were only bailed out thanks to Finland’s mediocrity on faceoffs. Canada should also be practicing their passes. I don’t know if it was just rust, tiredness, or what, but they had several passes that were just complete misses. Multiple times they could’ve had a scoring opportunity but instead they just threw the puck to nobody, confusing me endlessly.

[ateeztism]

Women’s U18 Day Three Game Three Recap - RUS vs FIN (December 29, 2019)

Brief Recap:

Russia vs Finland - 9:30am - Russia wins 4 - 2 in regulation

In-Depth Recap

Game Three of Day Three (Game Eleven of the Tournament) - Russia vs Finland

Final Score: Russia - 4 / Finland - 2 (Russia wins in regulation)

Russia Goal Scorers: Polina Luchnikova (1), Kristi Shashkina (2, 3), Ilona Markova (1)

Finland Goal Scorers: Nelli Laitinen (2), Sanni Rantala (1)

Box Score:

First Period

RUSSIA GOAL - Scored by Polina Luchnikova, assisted by Kristi Shashkina

FINLAND GOAL - Scored by Nelli Laitinen, assisted by Sanni Rantala and Kiira Yrjanen

Second Period

FINLAND GOAL - Scored by Sanni Rantala, assisted by Nelli Laitinen

RUSSIA GOAL - Scored by Kristi Shashkina, assisted Viktoria Butorina

RUSSIA GOAL - Scored by Kristi Shashkina, assisted by Polina Luchnikova

RUSSIA GOAL - Scored by Ilona Markova, assisted by Karina Akhmetova

Third Period

No Goals Scored

Russia Player of the Game: Kristi Shashkina (2 goals, 1 assist, +3)

Finland Player of the Game: Sanni Rantala (1 goal, 1 assist, 3 shots)

First things first: this game had to be INFURIATING for Finnish viewers. Finland hasn’t won a game yet, but they hadn’t been too good in any yet either. This one? Finland finally outshot their opponent, they had 8 powerplay opportunities, and they STILL couldn’t get it done. It’s really unfortunate too because I’ve really liked Finland’s goaltending so far in this tournament but in this game it just wasn’t as good as it has been. I can only imagine how infuriating it was. Hopefully this was a one-off for Russia, they had more penalty minutes in this game (16) than in their previous two games combined (12)