​​​​​​​Just 14-year old at the time—one of the youngest at the tournament—in her first game Nela scored two goals and notched an assist, followed by a hat-trick and an assist in the next. Hockey experts called her performance "one of the most dominant performances ever seen by a player her age".

"Lopušanová always finds a way to overcome the opposing team’s defenses, putting herself in the right position and working her stick to demonstrate elite-level scoring," opined one expert.

In the quarterfinal game against Sweden, Nela brought the crowd to its feet. She scored a lacrosse-style goal by lifting the puck onto her stick behind the net and moving it around to one of the net’s top corners. At first, no one seemed to know what had just happened, neither the opposing team nor the broadcasters. Then it dawned on everyone.

She was the first player at a women's event to do such a thing, and the goal went viral. "It’s just a routine move for me," Nela said after the game.

Although the Slovak women's team eventually lost the quarterfinal game, Nela Lopušanová was named the tournament's most valuable player as well as best forward. She scored 9 goals and 12 points.

Foreign commentators were surprised that neither did she emerge from the US or Canada, the two countries that dominate in the women’s game. Those who know how passionate Slovaks are about hockey are not surprised at all that one of the best young female players in the world comes from this country.
 

​​​​​​​The team coach said that at a young age Nela is already showing how professional she can be and that she can concentrate to perform at her best. She is diligent, self-confident, yet modest and above all, a team player. And even though she plays with boys her age in a league, she towers above most and leads her team Vlci Žilina in scoring.

Now, Slovakia has another hockey role model to inspire more than just girls to play the popular game.

​​​​​​​Photos: R. Michalec