HELSINKI, Finland – UVM sophomore
Sini Karjalainen has been named to the Finland National Team for the upcoming IIHF Women's World Championships. The Finnish national program announced the roster on Wednesday.
RELATED LINKS
IIHF Women's World Championship
2020 World Championship Schedule
"This is a great accomplishment for Sini," said head coach
Jim Plumer. "She has worked extremely hard on and off the ice to prepare herself to play for one of the top three teams in the world in this year's World Championships. Sini reflects everything we strive for in our program – players who have great character and are motivated to improve. We are thrilled for her and we can't wait to see her compete in Halifax in April."
This year's tournament will be Karjalainen's first World Championship. She most recently represented her home country on the international stage prior to the start of the 2019-20 UVM campaign. Karjalainen has played for the Finnish Ice Hockey Association since the 2014-15 season. The Posio, Finland native has skated in 90 games for the national program with 18 points on five goals and 13 assists. At the 2017 IIHF Women's U18 World Championship, Karjalaianen captained Finland to its first ever pool win.
Karjalainen had a historic sophomore campaign, setting the single-season record for most assists by a Vermont defenseman with 19. She also had the third-highest single-season point total (24) by a UVM defenseman. The blueliner had the second-highest assist total in Hockey East and was tied 10th among the nation's defensemen. Karjalainen's 24 points this season were the fifth-highest total by a conference blueliner.
On October 25, Karjalainen posted a Division I program record four assists at Merrimack. The sophomore had helpers on all four goals scored by the Catamount to become the first UVM skater to hit the four-assist plateau since Cealy Nottingham '01 did on January 23, 1999. She was only the ninth player to have a four-point game in program history.
Karjalainen is the seventh Catamount in program history to compete in the World Championship. She is also the second to represent Team Finland –
Saana Valkama '19 competed in three World Championships and earned bronze in 2017. Current Catamounts
Theresa Schafzahl (Austria) and
Blanka Škodová (Czech Republic) have also competed in the IIHF World Championships.
Finland registered its highest finish ever in last year's World Championships, earning silver as the host nation.
The 2020 World Championships begin on Tuesday (Mar. 31) in Halifax, Nova Scotia when Finland takes on Canada at 6:30 p.m. ET. Finland will then play the United States in a rematch of last year's gold medal game on Thursday (Apr. 2) at 2:30 p.m. ET. Karjalainen and Finland will complete pool play with matchups against Switzerland (Apr. 4, 6:30 p.m ET) and Russia (Apr. 5, 2:30 p.m. ET).
The Windjammer and Upper Deck Pub is the presenting sponsor of the 2019-20 women's hockey season
