A few hours after the Tre Kronor women took the ice in the semifinals against the USA, it was time for two new teams to take the ice at the Santagiulia Arena in Milan.
In the other semifinal, Canada and Switzerland met, and Canada was as big a favorite as the USA against Sweden.
For Switzerland, who surprisingly won the quarter-final against Finland, it was their first ever Olympic semi-final and it was a far more exciting game than most had expected.
Game-wise dominated Canada from the start. In the first period they fired 13 shots against Switzerland, just one.
However, Switzerland’s hard defensive work still made it difficult for Canada to create truly dangerous scoring chances, and the chances they did get were saved by Swiss goalkeeper Andrea Brändli.
The one who finally outsmarted Braendli, who plays every day in Frölunda, was, unsurprisingly, 34-year-old Marie-Philip Poulin.
When Poulin gave Canada a 1-0 lead in the opening game, she made history as the women’s hockey player to score the most goals at the Olympics with a total of 19 goals. Seven minutes later she made it 2-0 through sheer speed.
However, Switzerland refused to give up and when they cut the score to 2-1 in the fifth minute of the third period, hopes began to rise.
But they didn’t come any closer. Canada won 2-1.
Despite it exciting semi-final, so as always it will be the USA and Canada who settle for gold in the final on Thursday evening.
The bronze medal match between Sweden and Switzerland will be played in the afternoon of the same day.
– Reloading will be super easy. We will leave here with a bronze medal. That’s just how it is. “We’re going home with a medal,” says Jessica Adolfsson about Sweden’s final game at the Milan Olympics.
If Tre Kronor women wins, it would be Sweden’s first Olympic medal in 20 years.
– They have two very talented players (Lara Stalder and Alina Müller) and a good goalkeeper. It will be incredibly important to get holes in them early on and keep the two players on the outside, says Mira Jungåker about their opponents Switzerland.
