MANILA, Philippines: The Philippine national women's ice hockey team received its first win of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Women's Asia and Oceania Cup by defeating hosts Kyrgyzstan 7-4 on Sunday in the capital, Bishkek.

PH ice hockey team TMT PHOTO

Forward Bianca Cuevas scored a hat trick for the national team, in their first international game since 2019, despite Kyrgyz forward Diana Kim scoring four goals in the game.

Though captain Danielle Imperial and Cuevas scored in the game's first period, Kim scored a hat trick in the same period that saw the Philippine side trailing 3-2, Cuevas tied the game at 14:42 of the second period.

Imperial would later put the national team ahead 5 minutes into the third period, but Kim would score her fourth goal just a minute later.

Defenseman Kamil Cubillo would score the game winning goal just 13 seconds after Kim's fourth goal before Cuevas would tally her hat trick four minutes later.

Forward Kathleen Tan would also score 16 seconds after Cuevas' hat trick, roughly ten minutes before the end of the game.

The national team outshot the hosts 34-18.

Cuevas (3 goals, 1 assist) and Imperial (2 goals, 2 assists) each tallied four points in the game, with the former receiving player of the game honors for the Philippine team.

The Philippines was supposed to face off against Kuwait on Monday, March 25, but the Kuwaitis, along with Malaysia, had pulled out of the tournament, due to the schedule overlapping with Ramadan. Instead, the national team will next take the ice against India on Wednesday, March 27.

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