Iveta Karafiatova

Iveta Karafiatova  (born May 14, 1988 in Bratislava, Slovakia), is a Slovak female forward. Karafiatova participated in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games for Slovakia.

Playing career


Karafiatova, along with fellow Slovakian national team members Zuzana Tomcikova, and Martina Velickova played on boys' teams until Slovakian league rules stated they could not play once they turned 16. All three continued their careers by playing hockey in Saskatchewan for head coach Barrett Kropf at Caronport High School in 2004. Karafiatova, Tomcikova, and Velickova played for the Caronport Lady Cougars but Karafiatova and Tomcikova also played on the boys team.

She was part of the Slovakian roster that defeated Bulgaria by an 82-0 score in September 2008 in the Olympic Pre-Qualification tournament in Latvia. In the win, she accumulated 11 points. In 2009, she competed in the 2009 IIHF World Women’s Championship Division I, which was played in Graz, Austria. She was part of the Slovak team that qualified for the top division of the 2011 World Women's Championships.

Vancouver Winter Games
She played for Slovakia in the 2010 Olympics. It was the first time that Slovakia competed in women's ice hockey outside of Europe. Of note, she was the captain of the Slovakian national team at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games. Her first Olympic women's ice hockey game came on February 13, 2010 against Canada. Slovakia lost the game by an 18-0 mark and she was penalized for roughing in the first period. She did not register any points in the Olympic tournament as Slovakia finished in eighth place.

Awards and honors

 * Best Defender, 2009 IIHF World Women’s Championship Division I

Personal
Karafiatova attended university in Linkopings, Sweden, where she played defense on the varsity hockey team.