Swiss women write Olympic history

Bronze medal game

Switzerland - Sweden 4-3 (0-1, 0-1, 4-1)

Everything looked like a magic afternoon for the favourites from Sweden after they were able to gain a 2-0 lead in the bronze medal game against Switzerland after 40 minutes but everything should end in a nightmare for them and a huge party for the outsiders!

After a nervous begin by both sides a hooking penalty against Switzerland's Sandra Thalmann didn't lead yet to a Swedish success but the Scandinavians had the momentum on their side and at 14:00 Michelle Lowenhielm deflected the puck into the right corner after being left alone in front of the Swiss net. The cross-pass had come from Cecilia Ostberg. Sweden was the dominating team from this point on for the remainder of the first period but couldn't score another time despite having 10-1 shots on goal.

Coming out of the dressing rooms the Swiss women completely changed their till then defensive playing style and tried their luck in offense now themselves! Jessica Lutz with a defection after a blue line shot and Stefanie Marty with a back hander after a break away had the best opportunities for the Central Europeans around "half time" but both times Valentina Wallner in the Swedish net did a great job to keep her team the small the lead. In between a one-timer by Erica Uden Johansson could have extended the lead but her one-timer just hit the crossbar! When nothing looked like anything would happen anymore before the second intermission Johansson did it better with her second big chance of the game! Maria Lindh had won the puck inside the Swiss zone, found no team mate to support her, skated back into the neutral zone, passed the puck to Johansson and just after crossing the blue line Johansson beat Florence Schelling with a distance shot into the right top corner for the 2-0 - just past the glove hand, a mistake by the Swiss goalie!

Team Switzerland reacted with aggressive attacks at the begin of the third period and with their second chance they scored already at 41:18. Sarah Forster's pass from the blue line was stopped by Lara Stalder at the left circle and from there she found the completely free waiting Sara Benz who from just in front of the goalie crease fired the puck into the right corner past the chanceless goalie Valentina Wallner! A tripping call against Sweden's Johanna Olofsson then led to the equalizer in power play! After a pass from behind the net by Lara Stalder it was Alina Müller who caught the puck out of the air. Her shot was blocked but the rebound came to Phoebe Stanz who beat Wallner into the left corner!

Just when the Swedes found back into the game and it looked like we might see overtime, Switzerland's Jessica Lutz made it 3-2 after waiting alone at the left post to finish a fast passing combination at 53:43. With more than two minutes left on the clock the Swedes pulled out goalie Valentina Wallner for an additional skater. This was used by Alina Müller who hit the empty net with a clearing attempt from within the Swiss zone to score the game winning goal and become the hero for the Swiss team! The underdogs immidiatley took a timeout to calm down but still Pernilla Winberg brought the Swedes back to a one-goal deficit after a pass from behind the net with 44 seconds left on the clock! In the end the race to catch up was too late though for Sweden!

By winning bronze Switzerland only became the 5th nation after Canada, USA, today's opponents Sweden and Finland to ever win an Olympic medal in women's ice hockey. Later today (21.00 MSK) Canada and USA will fight for gold and silver so that no new nation will follow for at least 4 more years. For the Swiss women it's only their third medal at a big tournament after earning bronze at the 1995 European Championship and bronze at the 2012 World Championship.

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