While the Men’s A and B Brackets were exciting at the 2024 World Ball Hockey Championship in Visp and Raron Switzerland, nothing can compare to the drama that unfolded in the Women’s Bracket.
Seven teams competed for glory at the 2024 Women’s WBHC: USA, Czechia, Canada, Slovakia, Great Britain, Switzerland, and United Nations. Every single team won at least one game in Switzerland although only one could claim the biggest prize of the tournament. The Canadian ladies were the heavy favorites coming into this tournament where they looked for a hat-trick of gold medals (2019 WBHC and 2022 WBHC Champions). While Canada, Czechia, Slovakia, USA, and Great Britain were well established teams at the World Ball Hockey Championship, we had two newcomers in Visp and Raron, Switzerland. The United Nations Women assembled their inaugural team with a mix of different heritages and countries including players from Germany and France, while the Swiss Women made a triumphant comeback with 2024 being the first time their country had fielded a Women’s team since 2015 in Zug. Corin Bregy represented her country and played in her hometown as a native of Raron!


Group play
The Women’s bracket kicked off with a highly anticipated match between Slovakia and USA. The USA squad would get off to a hot start, scoring two goals in the first and never relinquishing their lead. Although Slovakia would lose their opening match, the Slovak superstar, Nela Lopusanova, would not be held off the scoresheet as she scored the final goal of the game for Slovakia in a 4-2 loss. Unfortunately for #88, she was injured at the end of this game and would play sparingly throughout the rest of the 2024 WBHC.
Great Britain, Czechia, and Canada would also open up their group play games with a W. Stephanie Towns would be the standout for GB in their 3-1 victory over the United Nations where she tallied an assist and the game winning goal in the win. The Czech ladies took care of business against Switzerland in a 6-0 rout of the host nation. Aneta Jirackova shut the door in net, while Karolina Kosinova and Kristyna Kaltounkova both tucked twice and added assists to boot. The Canadians finished off Day 1 of the Women’s WBHC with a 5-0 win over the United Nations. Keeley Prockiw would earn an easy shutout while Carol Ann Upshall tallied two assists. The real hero in the final game of Day 1 was Helena Gebrayel who made an absurd 55 saves in the loss against Canada. Both Gebrayel and Upshall would be standouts at the 2024 WBHC and you will hear their names mentioned more as the article continues.


The Slovaks opened up play on the second day and they were hungry for a win as they took down Great Britain 4-1. Nine different Slovak Women would get on the scoresheet in this one while Samantha Bolwell had an excellent game making 38 saves in the loss for GB. The USA and Czech Women both shut out their opponents while the Slovaks would double up on day two, defeating first GB and then United Nations later in the day. With multiple shutouts occurring on our second day, the goaltending was on full display. Maxie Weisz, Katerina Tepla, and Carmen Drafiova all collected shutouts to help their teams earn valuable points at the WBHC.
Day 3 of the 2024 Women’s WBHC opened up with a bang as USA got ANOTHER shutout from Maxie Weisz where her and her teammates handled the Great Britain Women with ease, winning 6-0. The Canadian crew saw the USA result and decided they could do better, shutting out Slovakia 9-0 on the backs of Julianna Thomson and Maggie Jones who combined for the shutty. We cannot forget to mention Chelsea Karpenko who had an amazing match against the Slovaks, tallying two goals and two assists. The Czech Women would win once again as they took down United Nations 7-1 thanks to three great performances by Barbora Patockova, Lucie Manhartova, and Kristyna Kaltounkova who all had multiple points respectively.
Canada would be the group playing twice on Day 3 and they did not disappoint in their back to back, defeating Switzerland 4-1. Although things had not gone well for the Swiss Women so far, they did score their first goal of the 2024 WBHC in this game as Marylin Janjic would get the lone tally for her team in the loss. Carol Ann Upshall continued her dominance in this game, scoring twice and adding an assist as her team was beginning to eye a massive showdown with their arch rival USA the following day. Before the third day of play wrapped up, we had one of the most electrifying games of the tournament between Czechia and USA. After the US Women took a 2-1 lead, all seemed lost for the Czechs who pulled their goalie and had less than a minute to work with in order to tie the game. Petra Herzigova would be the one to bring her team out of the ashes with a clapper from the point that went back bar and down to tie the game at 2 with only NINE SECONDS REMAINING! However, after a tense and scoreless overtime, Taylor Steadman would tuck the last goal of the game (in the shootout), and Brooke Wolejko went 3/3 as the USA ladies took the W in this one.


Day 4 produced a number of close games with only 11 goals being scored across 4 matches collectively. The Swiss squad got a historic shootout victory over the United Nations with Celina Zbinden scoring the GWG and Anja Tschirren making 15 saves in a 2-1 victory. USA would be held off the scoresheet for the first time at the 2024 WBHC as Keeley Prockiw stood on her head and Angie Cerilli scored the game winning goal in a 2-0 upset for Canada. Patricie Skorpikova, Martina Landova, and Lucie Kubinova all scored to help the Czechs take down Great Britain 3-1 but 2023 Master’s WBHC All Star, Becky Kasner-Wood would get her squad on the board while Samantha Bolwell made 15 saves in the loss for the Brits. The Slovaks would wrap up Day 4 of the 2024 WBHC with a 3-1 victory over Switzerland. Lea Nussbaum made an astounding 31 saves in the loss while Celina Hofer would score the lone goal for the Swiss. Although she was battling an injury, Nela Lopusanova knew her presence was needed and she tucked twice including the GWG to help her team secure victory.
Day 5 was a completely different story than Day 4 of the 2024 Women’s WBHC as a total of 31 goals were scored across four games to wrap up group play. The Canadian Women trounced Great Britain 12-0, USA dismantled the United Nations 7-1, Czechia annihilated Slovakia 9-0, and then Great Britain bounced back in the final game of group play for a 2-0 win over Switzerland. Julianna Thomson, Katerina Tepla, and Samantha Bolwell all recorded shutouts to wrap up their group play games in style. At the conclusion of Great Britain vs. Switzerland, group play was completed and the stage was set for glory.


Play-off
Great Britain, Switzerland, and the United Nations would all play for placement while Slovakia, Canada, USA, and Czechia battled for a spot in the gold medal match. The first Women’s semi-final of the 2024 WBHC was bright and early, but the ladies must have been up for hours based on the play we saw between Canada and USA. After a crushing defeat to their arch rivals, the USA Women needed a confidence booster, and that came from captain Colleen Murphy who unleashed a cannon on the powerplay, going bar down and giving her team a 1-0 lead. However, Elysia Desmier-Pelletier would not go down without a fight and tied the game up by driving hard to the net and chipping one over the US netminder to bring the game level at 1. The first semi-final would head to overtime, and after a few glorious opportunities were stopped by Brooke Wolejko, Katherine Murphy would put the Canadians to rest, scoring a goal out of midair to send USA to gold while Canada would play for bronze.


Our second semi-final came between Slovakia and Czechia in a match that many did not expect to be close. However, the Slovak Women battled hard and were even at 1 after 1. Although the game was tied after one period, Kristyna Kaltounkova made sure there would be no doubt once the game was concluded as she factored in on EVERY. SINGLE. GOAL. for the Czechs who defeated Slovakia 4-1 and were primed for a rematch against the US Women. Slovakia would face off against Canada in the bronze medal match after falling in their semi to the Czechs.
Meanwhile in our placement games, the United Nations Women shutout Switzerland with Helena Gebrayel putting on another great performance in a 2-0 win. Olivia Hale and Amanda Victoria Ottoni would tally the final two for their team at the 2024 WBHC. Great Britain would then return the favor for Switzerland and shut out the United Nations 1-0, with Casey Traill scoring just 3 minutes into the game. Samantha Bolwell yet again held the fort for a shutout. The Great Britain Women would then finish off their 2024 WBHC with a victory against Switzerland, Stephanie Towns and Hazel Taylor scored in GB’s final game while Samantha Bolwell recorded yet another shutout, her third of the 2024 WBHC.
Bronze Medal game
As the 2024 Women’s WBHC concluded, Slovakia and Canada squared off for bronze, and it was allllll Canada in this one. The hero in this game was undoubtedly Carol Ann Upshall who factored in on all SEVEN of Canada’s goals in a 7-1 victory that helped the Canadians claim bronze. Julianna Thomson had yet another great performance, making 10 saves in the win. Patricia Maria Dzurinova would score the final goal of the 2024 WBHC for the Slovaks as they finished fourth in Switzerland.
Gold Medal game
The final match of the 2024 Women’s WBHC was the one we were all waiting for, a rematch between Czechia and USA for gold. After a shootout victory in the first meeting, the USA and Czech Women knew that this match was a toss up, and the team who got early momentum would likely come away with victory. That boost of momentum came from a hero we have not mentioned yet: Emma Seitz. Seitz was simply unstoppable for USA in Switzerland and she would be the one to score the game winning goal in gold. After the opening goal by Seitz, USA battened down the hatches and held on to their 1-0 lead before Megan Fortier tucked to give her team a 2-0 lead. Aly Vakos would wrap up the scoring in this game and Brooke Wolejko finished off her 2024 WBHC in superb fashion with a shutout. USA would take down Czechia 3-0 and captured their FIRST EVER gold medal at an ISBHF World Ball Hockey Championship. Czechia would fall but still earned silver at the 2024 Women’s WBHC in a great summer for Czech Ball Hockey, who, as a country, collected two silvers and a bronze medal over the course of our 3 tournaments in 2024.


Congratulations to the USA, Czech, and Canadian Women on their medals at the 2024 WBHC and also to the teams who did not medal, these Women are not only incredible athletes but also incredible people, they are a huge reason our game is so great!!
Final Standings:
USA
Czechia
Canada
Slovakia
Great Britain
United Nations
Switzerland