Women’ s Final Olympic Qualification Group E Tournament

Women’ s Final Olympic Qualification Group E Tournament For 2022 Winter Olympics

by Martin Merk|14 NOV 2021

The Swedish women’s national team will be back at a top-level event after a three-year absence and has qualified for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games after beating France 3-2 in a winner-takes-it-all game at the Final Olympic Qualification Group E on home ice in Lulea.

The Swedes built up a 2-0 lead after 24 minutes of play and had more energy to take the win home. Sweden had to go through the Olympic Qualification for the first time and continues its streak of Olympic participations.

For two games both the Swedes and the French were used to be the dominating force in the game but this winner-takes-it-all battle started with two teams at par. Even though the Swedes were favourites on paper, the French also had their chances. Their probably best opportunity for a lead was missed with a two-on-one attack by Chloe Aurard and Clara Rozier midway the first period.

On the other side Lisa Johansson was close when trying to capitalize on a rebound but the puck landed outside the net.

At 12:30 the Damkronorna team made their home crowd in Lulea cheer. After a shot from Maja Nylen Persson, Felizia Wikner Zienkiewicz was looking for the rebound, skated with the puck behind the net and sent it back to Michelle Lowenhielm, who netted the puck into the top-right corner.

Three-and-a-half minutes into the middle frame the Swedes doubled the gap. Olivia Carlsson sent a diagonal pass from behind the net through the crease and Sara Hjalmarsson reacted fastest to extend the Swedish lead to 2-0.

But France was not done yet. After a lengthy battle around the neutral zone Lea Parment sent a pass to Rozier at the blue line who deked Swedish defender Johanna Fallman in the offensive zone and then beat goalie Sara Grahn with a precise shot for the 2-1 score to the happiness of the travelling French fans at the arena.

The Swedes made one further step toward Beijing early in the third period. After Linnea Johansson had won a face-off at 1:58, Jessica Adolfsson sent off a hard shot from the blue that went in deflected by Lina Ljungblom.

The French suffered another kind of setback a minute later. Rozier illegally hit Lisa Johansson, who got her hand hurt and had to visit the medical staff while Rozier got a major penalty for interference. While the Swedes didn’t capitalize on the five-minute power play, they also didn’t allow the French to have a single shot on goal during the first half of the third period.

With 4:17 left in the game and a penalty against Sweden’s Anna Kjellbin just expired, Lea Villiot found the hole through traffic at Sara Grahn’s near goal post to cut the deficit and make it a one-goal game again.

It became hectic last minutes, in which the French hurt their chances with two penalties while Sweden defended the 3-2 lead until the end before celebrating their qualification for the 2022 Olympics and a comeback with the top nations after relegation from the Women’s Worlds in 2019.

Women’ s Final Olympic Qualification Group E Tournament For 2022 Winter Olympics

by Martin Merk|14 NOV 2021

Slovakia finishes the Women’s Final Olympic Qualification Group E in third place after beating Korea 7-1 in what was a farewell game for both teams who had started the tournament winless.

“We were not under pressure and enjoyed the game and to score goals and end the tournament with a win. I think we did a good job today and played well,” said Lucia Istocyova, who same as Nicol Lucak Cupkova scored two goals.

“But we came here to qualify for the Olympic Games but now we have to focus on the World Championship and learn to play simpler in the D-zone.”

Slovakia dominated the game against the young Korean team in all ends and periods and outshot their opponent 36-12.

After two losses in two games both Slovakia and Korea were looking to end the tournament with a winning experience in their first-ever encounter in an IIHF-sanction senior women’s hockey game.

After the initial results in Lulea and considering that Slovakia has always played at least one tier higher than the Koreans in the Women’s Worlds, the Slovaks entered the game as favourites and started that way. With early goals within a span of 106 seconds from Tatiana Korenkova and Lucak Cupkova the team in blue had the start they wished for.

At 10:55 captain Lucak Cupkova scored again. She got the puck from behind the net on the right side and scored from a short angle. Istocyova netted the puck on a power play at 13:17.

The Koreans were outshot but the direction of the game wasn’t as lopsided as against the tournament favourites during the previous days.

With 2:41 left in the period, their K-pop goal song could finally be played. Jiyeon Choi intercepted a pass in the neutral zone and beat Slovak netminder Laura Medvidova for Korea’s first goal of the tournament.The Slovak players pose for a team photo after the win.PHOTO: FREDRIK SUNDVALLThe Slovaks were next on the scoring sheet in the middle frame. At 13:30 Livia Kubekova saw her penalty shot blocked by Inhye Jang but 16 seconds later she scored the 5-1 marker with a shot from central position. Late in the period Julia Matejkova scored on the power play.

“We are happy that we won after the losses. It was not easy because we had different goals. It’s a good game for the future and a good start for the preparation for our next World Championship,” said Slovak head coach Tomas Segin.

Istocyova added her second marker of the game after a power play in the third period for the final score of 7-1.

Slovakia will play at the 2022 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship Division I Group A in Angers where they will meet Sweden and host France again in a battle for promotion to the top division. Norway, Austria and the Netherlands also play in the group.

In Korea ice hockey practices have just restarted a few weeks ago after a lengthy ban for indoor team sports due to Covid-19. The Koreans hope to use this tournament against higher-ranked opposition to learn for the future. They will play one tier below in the 2022 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship Division I Group B in Katowice, Poland.