Sweden and Switzerland reach women’s semifinals

Women's quarterfinals:

Finland - Sweden 2-4 (0-0, 1-0, 1-4)

In an even derby between neighbours and archrivals Finland and Sweden the first goal only game around "half time". Finland finally broke through the solid Swedish defense with a rush when Venla Hovi scored with a rebound after Valentina Wallner couldn't stop a short distance shot by Linda Valimaki. In an heated atmosphere the puck went back and forth but before the second intermission neither Finland nor Sweden could add another goal. Something relatively rare for women's hockey occured when Susanna Tapani attacked Swedish goalie Wallner a bit too heavy trying to get a rebound at 36:48. This situation ended with a fight between several players on each side and not only did fists fly but also were opponents pushed down to the ice. The situation was cleared by the referee with 2+2 minutes for Finland's Minttu Tuominen and Sweden's Erika Grahm, each for roughing.

A holding penalty in the last minute of the middle period for Finland's till then only goalscorer Venla Hovi should give the match an unexpected turn. At 40:46, still with a woman more on the ice, Sweden scored the fast equalizer. After Norra Räty in the Finnish net allowed a rebound against a scoring attempt by Emma Nordin it was Anna Borgqvist whose one-timer from close to the right circle was deflected by a defender into the right bottom corner! Now with the momentum on their side the Swedes kept the pressure high and Lina Wester - after a brilliant pass by Pernilla Winberg from behind the net through two defenders - scored the 2-1 for the Tre Kronor from within the slot. Now the Fins were furious and when the Swedes were still in a celebrating mood they fought back just 12 (!) seconds later when youngster Emma Nuutinen was there from short distance!

The closer the game came to the end of regulation, the more nervous were the players on both sides and there were barely any dangerous situations. An interference penalty against Finland's Emma Terho then should bring the decision for Sweden. Just 8 seconds were played after Sweden won the following face off and Emma Eliasson beat Noora Raty with a shot from the blue line into the right corner! The Finnish coaching staff immidiately reacted by taking a timeout to reorganize for the race to catch up but there was only one really dangerous shot left by Riikka Valila. In the last minute Raty left the Finnish net for an additional skater and that was when the decision came! With a huge effort Pernilla Winberg conquered the puck inside the own third and sent the puck towards the Finnish blue line from where Emma Nordin scored into the empty net through two defenders!

Sweden now face Team USA in the semifinals and can still dream of a bronze medal while that dream is over for the favourites from Finland. Instead the team will have to play the semifinal of the round for the 5th to 8th spot against Germany.

Switzerland - Russia 2-0 (1-0, 0-0, 1-0)

Dream over for tournament hosts Russia who went with very high expactions into this tournament. After winning group B with a perfect record, they faced the Swiss team in the semifinals who had lost all their three matches in the group A where the higher ranked teams played. Russia started well but with their first real attack the Swiss women scored the surprising 1-0 leat at 10:46 through a shot from within the slot by Stefanie Marty - just a minute after Russia's Yekaterina Lebedeva had missed the empty net after a cross-pass by Olga Sosina. Now Switzerland took over the initiative but a 2-on-1 rush was not used by Romy Eggimann whose one-timer was blocked with a pad save by Anna Prugova. A similiar situation occured in the 19th minute when Lara Stalder misses the left corner from shrot distance after a pass by team mate Jessica Lutz.

In the middle period Russia had a series of good opportunities but again and again Florence Schelling was there with saves. Only rarely did the Swiss side make the way into the Russian zone. A shock for the Swiss team came when Florence Schelling waited for a shot from the left circle by Olga Sosina but without seeing her Russia's Yekaterina Smolentseva jumped against the head of Schelling who had an extremly hard landing on the ice. After a short medical check she had luck and was ready to continue the game without problems though.

In the last 20 minutes the picture was very similar and especially Yekaterina Smolentseva had a series of good opportunities. The Russian fans didn't really believe in a comeback anymore and it was really quite in the Shayba Arena until the very last minutes. When Russian goalie Anna Prugova left her net in the last minute this was used by Lara Stalder for the decision via empty netter after a long pass towards the blue line by Nicole Bullo. MVP of the match though was definately Swiss goalie Florence Schelling with a spectacular 41 save shutout!

Switzerland will face Canada in the semifinals against whom they lost 0-5 in the group stage. For Russia the semifinals of the round for the 5th to 8th spot goes against Japan who they defeated 2-1 in group B.

Schedule:

5th to 8th place semifinals:

Su, 16 Feb (12.00 MSK) Finland - Germany
Su, 16 Feb (21.00 MSK) Russia - Japan

Semifinals:

Mo, 17 Feb (16.30 MSK) USA - Sweden
Mo, 17 Feb (21.00 MSK) Canada - Switzerland

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