All set for playoff at Women’s WC

21 Apr 2011 | Fredrik Pålsson

As expected USA and Canada are unbeaten and qualified directly for the sem finals while Sweden will play Finland and the home nation Switzerland will play Russia in the quarter finals. Slovakia and Kazakhstan will battle to avoid relegation

In Group A USA swept everything by beating Sweden 9-1, Russia 13-1 but last placed Slovakia only with 5-0. Slovakia played extremly defensively during the first round only conceding twelve goals but also only scored once. Sweden easily beat Russia 7-1 for second place behind USA. Russia as third placed also qualified for the next round.

In Group B it was Canada who dominated with 21-0 in three games. Behind them Switzerland suprisingly beat Finland 2-1 after penalty shots. Finland who also had some problems with Kazakhstan but only lost 0-2 to Canada.

In the quarter finals Sweden will play Finland, something Sweden can't be too pleased with after finishing second in their group. Sweden have had a hard time playing the Finns in recent WWC games. In the other quarter final the home nation will play Russia and if the play as they did against Finland they should have a really good chance on a semi final spot.

But the European teams are only fighting for the bronze medals. Anything else but a final between USA and Canada would be a huge upset and even if Sweden made it in the 2006 Olympics it doesn't feel very likely that any of the European teams have the capacity to beat the US or Canada.

USA's Hilary Knight is the tournament top scorer so far with 11 points in three games followed by three other Americans. The best non American is Sweden's Erika Holst with six points.