SYDNEY — Canada scored five goals in the first period and then coasted to a 9-0 win over Switzerland in the opening game for both teams at the U-18 women’s world hockey championship on Saturday at the Membertou Sport and Wellness Centre.
Assistant captain Alida Korte had two goals and an assist for Canada and was named the player of the game in the preliminary round matchup. Rachel Piggott had a goal and two assists. Kendall Doiron, Laurie Aubin and Adrianna Milani each had a goal and assist.
Caileigh Tiller, Sofia Ismael and Hayley McDonald also scored for Canada, which got an 11-save shutout from netminder Lea-Rose Charrois. Canada outshot the Swiss 51-11.
“We did not have the greatest of starts, but we settled into the game pretty quick,” said head coach Vicky Sunohara of Scarborough, Ont. ”We are really focusing on ourselves and fixing little things, playing with people that we have not played with. It took us a bit, but we saw some good habits; that is the way we have to play, but we have to play for 60 minutes, and we did not do that tonight.
“We feel like we have a lot of depth on this team. Everyone is getting on the ice and we want to continue that with a lot of games in a short amount of time.”
Canada, which is in Group A with Sweden, Hungary and Switzerland, will play Hungary on Sunday. Sweden beat Hungary 4-1 earlier in the day and share the lead with Canada.
“I think we are super hard working. It is always fun to be here playing with such amazing talent. We stuck to our 200-foot game, playing defence first and then focusing on offence because you need to make sure the puck stays out of your own net to win the game,” said Piggott.
“Everyone was working hard tonight, driving to the net, creating opportunities and making sure we had the puck on our stick.”
In Group B games, the United States whipped Slovakia 13-0 and Czechia flattened Finland 9-1.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 10, 2026.
The Canadian Press
