The Israeli women's ice hockey team made its historic international debut on Tuesday at the 2022 IIHF Ice Hockey Women's World Championship for Division III in Belgrade, Serbia.
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The Israeli squad, coached by Boris Mindel and Boris Kotler, lost 5-1 to Bosnia after quickly falling behind 3-0 in the first period.
Israel's historic first goal was scored by defender Chen Kotler at the 25-minute mark of the second period.
The team will play its key second match on Thursday against Estonia, which last played in the World Championships in 2008.
"It was an incredible, historic event that we were able to represent Israel for the first time at the World Championship," said Kotler, who as stated scored team Israel's first-ever goal in the competition.
"I couldn't have imagined scoring the first goal in our history. I really hope we do well in the next matches and that we represent Israel with dignity," she said.
Esther Silver, the general manager of the women's team, established the women's ice hockey program in Israel 15 years ago after years of playing in Canada. Silver started with collecting and donating equipment and developed a hockey camp in the city of Metula in northern Israel, to which she invited Canadian and American coaches. She then helped form a women's team which now plays against men's club teams in Israel.
Iran, which was due to face off against Israel at the competition, withdrew from the event earlier this month to avoid competing against Israel.
Levav Weinberg, chairman of the Ice Hockey Federation of Israel, said, "We put politics aside. What we care about is promoting the sport. You can see that in our team, which is made up of [women of] four religions, and we do our utmost to win."
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