Peschel scores on debut as USA rout Germany 5-0 at women’s hockey worlds

Emma Peschel celebrated her international debut with a goal as the United States shut out Germany 5-0 at the women’s ice hockey world championship on Sunday.

The 22-year-old defender scored with a wrist shot from the point to make it 2-0 in the opening period of the Group A game.

Casey O’Brien opened the scoring and added an assist in her second game for the US, having marked her debut with a goal and an assist in Friday’s 7-0 victory over Switzerland.

Alex Carpenter extended the lead to 3-0 in the second period before Abbey Murphy and Joy Dunne completed the rout with third-period goals.

Captain Hilary Knight registered an assist to extend her world championship records to 54 assists and 122 points. Defender Caroline Harvey added two assists, giving her five through the opening two games.

Goaltender Gwyneth Philips stopped all 13 shots she faced as the Americans recorded their second straight shutout, having outscored their opponents 12-0 to open the tournament.

“Today was another solid win under our belt, Germany is a talented team,” US coach John Wroblewski said. “We’re going to take the positives from this game and focus on turning our attention to our next test against Austria tomorrow.”

The Americans have won 10 of the past 14 world championships and arrived in Denmark as reigning world and Olympic champions, having claimed the 2025 title in the Czech Republic and gold at the Milan-Cortina Games in February, beating Canada in overtime in both finals. They will face Austria in another group-stage contest in Esbjerg on Monday.

All but one member of the American roster plays in the Professional Women’s Hockey League.

In Group B in Herning, Sweden bounced back from an opening 5-1 defeat to Canada with a 4-1 victory over Nordic rivals Finland. Hilda Svensson scored on the power play and added an assist.

Canada were scheduled to face Japan later on Sunday in Herning, while the Czech Republic were due to meet Switzerland in Esbjerg.