New Zealand U18s win gold

Kiwis dominate against host nation

As host nation South Africa faced New Zealand, looking for its first win, it enjoyed the full support of the Thailand contingent. New Zealand needed a win in regulation to take gold in a three-way tie with its Asian rivals, but if South Africa could take even one point from the game, Thailand would finish on top of the pile.

However, the young Ice Blacks gave South Africa little chance in Thursday’s game. New Zealand won 7-1, outshooting the opposition 60-8. There was some brave resistance from home goalies Nico Janse van Rensberg (40 saves from 44 shots) and Connor Gilbert (15 from 16), but the onslaught was irresistible. Once Nash Hayward Jones opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal in the 15th minute, there was little doubt about the final outcome. South Africa came close to tying the game late in the first period: many in the arena thought that Noam Levin’s deflected shot had found the target, but it rippled the twine from behind the goal rather than crossing the goal line.

In the middle stanza, New Zealand took complete control, adding three more goals. Samson Jansen Middleton doubled the advantage before Max Simpson added two more. Captain Yuval Levi potted a consolation effort for the home team.

The final frame saw Simpson complete his hat-trick as the Ice Blacks sealed an emphatic victory and celebrated gold. New Zealand hasn’t been playing in the Division IIIA of the U18 category since 2019. That year, NZ was relegated – albeit by a narrow margin after suffering two overtime losses – and since then the team has been unable to compete due to the pandemic. The tournaments in 2020 and 2021 were cancelled, and New Zealand had to withdraw from last season’s competition. As a result, the class of 2023 was comprised of players with no prior IIHF experience.

New Zealand’s success was very much a team triumph. Instead of eye-catching individual performances, A.J. Spiller’s players focussed on collective responsibility. During the tournament, the Canadian-born head coach, who played several seasons of junior hockey back home before coming to New Zealand in 2016, spoke of his pride at his players’ performance.

“After many years of tournaments cancelled due to COVID-19, this is the first time this team has played together at a World Championship,” he said. “The players have been hard at work, turning up to regional camps, working on their fitness and understanding what it means to be a team…