URL:http://www.torstar.com/sportswire/amhockey/HKY-Women-Rus-Can.html SportsWire _________________________________________________________________ Late breaking SportsWire Story last updated on Wed Apr 2 23:40:19 EST 1997 _________________________________________________________________ Canada 9 Russia 1 - After ripping Russia 9-1 Tuesday night, the Canadian women's hockey team is preparing for its first serious test of the world championship against a strong Chinese club on Thursday. ``As long as we stick to our game plan, we should be successful,'' says sharp-shooting forward Vicky Sunohara. Canada and China, coming off an 11-3 romp past Switzerland, are tied atop Pool A standings with 2-0 records as they head towards the showdown. Because neither leader can finish worse than second in the pool now, both have clinched Olympic berths. Five are available to the eight teams in this tournament. China finished fourth in the previous women's worlds, in 1994. It has improved vastly in the last three years. ``They're good skaters, they move the puck well and are big, physically,'' assistant Canadian coach Daniele Sauvageau said of the Chinese. ``They have good goaltending, too, so offensively it's going to be a much harder game for us than the first two.'' The all-Toronto line of Sunohara, Laura Schuler and Karen Nystrom led the charge against Russia with a goal each. Also scoring were Hayley Wickenheiser of Calgary, Jayna Hefford of Kingston, Ont., Stacy Wilson of Moncton, Luce Letendre of Brossard, Que., Danielle Goyette of St-Nazaire, Que., and France St-Louis of Montreal. ``This was a good test of the systems we've been using for the last two weeks,'' said Sunohara. ``The score could be 10-0 or 2-1, but we still have to stick to our game plan.'' Canada, now 17-0 all-time in world tournaments, has outscored opponents 151-19 since the inaugural tournament in 1990. Canada outshot Russia 56-7. On Tuesday, Russian goalie Irina Gashennikova was a sitting duck. It was almost possible to feel sorry for Lesley Reddon. Canada's goaltender had eagerly anticipated facing the Russians after getting the starting assignment from coach Shannon Miller, but the Mississauga, Ont., native was relegated to spectator status by her goal-hungry and hard-checking teammates. She didn't face a shot until the fourth minute of the second period. She lost her shutout with a little more than 11 minutes remaining when a long shot changed direction off a leg and bounced past her. In Pool B games Tuesday, it was: United States 3, Finland 3; and Sweden 2, Norway 2. The Americans and Finns are tied for first place with three points each and are expected to grab two of the three remaining Olympic spots. ``Hopefully, the Americans and Finns are tiring each other out,'' said Sunohara. That leaves Russia, Sweden, Norway and Switzerland to battle for the last spot. ``I'm really worried that if we don't make it to the Olympics, they will close down the women's hockey program in Russia,'' said forward Ekaterina Pashkevich, who has been a mainstay of the Russian national women's team since it was set up three years ago. ``We rely on private sponsors and nobody wants to sponsor a team that is going nowhere.'' All teams have today off. KITCHENER, Ont. (CP) SportsWire