Norway Women's National Hockey Team

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

by Derek O’Brien|14 NOV 2021

After each team lost their first two games in the Final Olympic Qualification Group C in Chomutov, both Norway and Poland were looking to finish on a high note and both did to varying degrees. Norway earned a 7-1 victory while Poland returns home with its most respectable result.

“I’m very pleased with how we played here this week,” said Polish coach Ivan Bednar. “We knew what we were coming into when we qualified for this group, and that it was going to be a difficult task and I think we handled the situation well.”

Mathea Fischer led Norway’s offence with two goals and two assists.

Thea Jorgensen opened the scoring at 5:42, sending a low shot that may have been tipped through the legs of Polish goalie Martyna Sass. Just 53 seconds later it was 2-0 when Andrea Dalen sent a pass in front to a wide-open Fischer, who made no mistake.

The Poles had five shots on goal in the first period but that didn’t include their best scoring chance, which was a shot off the stick of captain Karolina Pozniewska that hit the crossbar on the power play.

Norway added two more goals in the second period. The first came a minute into the period when Line Bialik did a nice reverse and fed Fischer, who sent a looping shot that dipped under the glove of Sass. A short time later, Sass was relieved by Agata Kosinska, who made her second appearance of the tournament.

At 31:01, a shot from the point by Lene Tendenes was stopped by Kosinska but Madelen Haug Hansen was right there to put in the rebound and make it 4-0. Just 34 seconds after scoring, however, Haug Hansen was assessed a major penalty for elbowing following an incident in front of the Norewgian bench.

Poland stuck early on the five-minute power play when Pozniewska fed Ewelina Czarnecka, who fired a wrister upstairs in her 100th career game for the Polish national team. Despite more than four more minute on the advantage, however, Poland could come no closer.

“She plays for my team in Slovakia,” Bednar said about Czarnecka. “It’s really good to have an experienced player like that.”

To begin the third period, Norway once again scored early. This time it was Haug Hansen crossing into the Polish zone and dropping a pass to Bialik, who fired it home after 38 seconds had passed. With just under eight minutes to play, Andrine Furulund converted a rebound to make it 6-1.

Right after the sixth Norwegian goal, Poland’s Wiktoria Sikorska had a great chance in alone on Linnea Holterud Olsson but was stopped on her backhand attempt.

Dalen rounded out the scoring by scoring on a breakaway with 1:34 to play.

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

In a game of wild momentum swings, Emma Kreisz’s power-play goal with 4:46 to play capped a Hungarian comeback from a 3-1 deficit that became a 5-3 win. The loss eliminates Norway, whose only hope was to win and keep alive the possibility of a three-way tie. Hungary will face the Czech Republic on Sunday which will see the winner advance to Beijing.

The first period was scoreless, despite Hungary outshooting Norway 16-3 and having three chances on the power play.

Hungary opened the scoring two minutes into the second period when Nystrom went behind the net to stop a shoot in, but she was instantly pressured by two Hungarian forwards. As she scrambled to get back into her crease, Imola Horvath centred to Regina Metzler, who fired it over the goalie’s shoulder and into the top corner from a sharp angle.

It seemed like Hungary might be ready to take control of the game, but instead momentum swung mightily in Norway’s favour, starting with two penalties in the 26^th minute that gave them a 5-on-3. On that Norwegian advantage, Madelene Haug Hansen’s shot hit the skate of Hungarian penalty-killer Franciska Kiss-Simon and into the net to tie the score.

Just 26 seconds later, with the Norwegians now up 5-on-4, they took the lead. Mathea Fischer stole the puck behind the net and wrapped it around with Aniko Nemeth looking over the wrong shoulder.

Just seven seconds after that, another Hungarian penalty, this one to Taylor Baker for tripping, resulted in another goal by Fischer. This time, she pulled the puck out of a mad scramble in front and fired it over a fallen Nemeth.

And the Norwegians, who had only 10 shots on their first four periods of this tournament, had 12 in the second period of this game and looked to build on their lead. Karoline Pedersen skated in alone on Nemeth but was stopped. Another shot hit the post.

Hungary started to push back and with under five minutes to play in the middle frame, they got one back when captain Fanni Gasparics potted a rebound.

Trying to protect the lead, Norway went back to playing stingy defence in the first half of the third period, but the door opened for Hungary when Lene Tendenes was sent off for boarding with 10:37 to play. It took 20 seconds to get the equalizer when Hayley Williams knocked the puck off the stick of a Norwegian penalty-killer trying to clear the zone, and it went to Kinga Jokai-Szilagyi, who buried it upstairs.

Five minutes later, Hungary was back on the power play when Tendenes was back in the box for tripping, and this time they worked the puck around and Alexandra Huszak found Kreisz in the slot, who one-timed it home.

Norway got another chance on the power play, which became a 6-on-4 when they pulled Nystrom. They had some good looks, but Nemeth was steady. Hungary looked to have one shot at an empty net when play was halted due to broken glass above the penalty box door, but Mira Seregely made good with 1:33 to go to provide some insurance.