The Philippine women’s ice hockey team gave it their all against host country Thailand in the gold medal match.
BANGKOK – The Philippine women’s ice hockey team fell against Thailand in their gold medal match, 13-4, at the Thailand International Ice Hockey Arena on Friday.
The team went toe-to-toe with the powerhouse Thais in the early minutes of the opening period of their first-ever women’s ice hockey tournament in SEA Games 2025, before giving up five goals in the last nine minutes due to penalties.
Coming in the second interval, longtime veteran Danielle Imperial put the Philippines on the board with a goal about five minutes into the period – the first scored against the Thais in the tournament.
Shortly after, Jasmin Cian added another goal, 6-2.
Though they weren’t able to make up the difference at the end of the day due to Thailand’s superior experience and skill dictating the end of the game, it was still something to be proud of for Imperial and her teammates.
“Yeah, [we’ve had] so much growth. I mean, we won every other game after that loss against Thailand, and no other team scored on Thailand. So to get four against them, that’s so much, it shows that we can keep up with them,” Imperial told POC Media at the venue on Friday.
“If not for all of our penalties, I think the score would’ve been tighter but, you know, it was a really good game and we all know that this is a game to be proud of. So we’ll get them next time.” she added.
Redemption in growth
Even with the lopsided loss for the Nationals, it was still a big improvement from the Philippines’ first outing against Thailand.
Serving as their debut game in the biennial tournament, the Philippines absorbed a 13-0 beatdown in their opener. Not one to be deterred, they bounced back with three straight wins to make a return to the final.
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Despite not being able to get back at their foes for the big loss, Imperial knows that there is a much bigger picture involved.
With Philippine Ice Hockey slowly getting more attention with tournaments like the SEA Games, she is confident that the future will be heading in the right direction.
“It’s looking really good. I mean, the men’s team with the bronze, if not for the naturalized Russians on the Indonesian team, they’d be in the same game too and our end, Thailand’s two divisions above us and to know that we can play against them, it’s very promising,” said Imperial.
“I think we’re just excited to see what we can do for it and put it in our next tournament,” she added.
Imperial earlier said that she would reconsider her retirement should the team win a medal in SEA Games 2025, with the veteran still displaying her ice skills via two goals against Thailand.
“Yeah, no I think this is a really good tournament, and I’ll think about this another time but not right now. I’m just really proud of the team and of the girls.” she said.
The Philippines finished with two podium finishes in the ice hockey tournaments – a silver in women’s and a bronze in the men’s tournament.
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Luisa Morales is a sports writer with a special interest in promoting women’s sports.
Her coverage highlights include the UAAP, PVL, Southeast Asian Games, and the FIBA World Cup. She also follows Alex Eala, the Philippine women’s national football team, and mixed martial arts.