Sochi 2014 - Gameday 3 Part 2

Japan v Germany 0-4 - The German women's hockey team overcame a resilient Japanese side with a comfortable 4-0 victory in Group B at Sochi 2014. Goals from Manuela Anwander and Kerstin Spielberger, in addition to two goals from Franziska Busch, harvested the win for the European side, who finish their Olympic Games third overall in the group. The German team opened the scoring in the first period through Anwander on 13 minutes, with assists from Sophie Kratzer and Maritta Becker, and it stayed 1-0 until the end of the first period. They made it 2-0 after 20 minutes, after Busch scored following a clever play from Andrea Lanzl. The Japanese then battled hard for over 30 minutes before being put to the sword in the third period. Two goals in the final two minutes completed the scoring, first by Spielberger, who was assisted by Tanja Eisenschmid and Nina Kamenik, and in the dying seconds Busch got her second of the match after being set up by Susann Gotz. It was a morale-boosting victory for the German team, who will now feel that their Olympics have not been a complete failure. The Japanese team has been very much a fan favourite in this tournament and many of their supporters will be sad to see them exit, after entertaining the crowds. It is the first time that Japan has featured in the ice hockey competition since the 1998 Nagano Olympics, and the team was dubbed "Smile Japan" for the happiness it brought with its plucky play.

Many will hope to see them at future Games to add this extra value to the competition. Germany was never likely to progress from this preliminary group stage, and was always the third-best team in Group B, behind the power and class of Russia and Sweden. As a qualifying nation along with Japan, can the Germans improve sufficiently to take on the likes of Russia and Sweden? The answer currently is no. They conceded four times against the other European nations and will find it hard to catch them in the years to come. They are stuck in the middle ground, where they are too good for the likes of Japan and other smaller ice hockey nations, and not yet good enough for the elite teams. It will be a difficult few years for them before the next Olympics comes around, as they try to improve sufficiently to challenge at a higher level.
Sweden v Russia 1-3 - In a battle to take the victory in Group B, Team Russia utterly dominated Team Sweden by a score of 3-1 on Thursday to advance to the semifinals at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Russian forward Alyona Khomich scored the second goal of the night for her nation, and it went on to be the deciding tally in the contest. Russia now goes on to play Team Switzerland in the semifinals and Sweden will play Team Finland. Each of those matchups will take place on Monday. Before the game even started, it was very clear from the support inside the Shayba Arena that the Russian women would have the home-ice advantage. The first period of this matchup featured Team Russia attacking the Swedish women with great ferocity. After a short feeling-out process, the Russians dominated in the offensive and defensive zones, amassing 16 shots and allowing only two. Forward Anna Shukina scored the first goal for Russia just 8:38 into the game. It was assisted by fellow forwards Yekaterina Pashkevich and Anna Shokhina. The second period started much more evenly matched. With Sweden toughening up defensively and shutting Russia down for the first half of the period, it was the first career goal from Khomich that broke the game open. The arena exploded in favor of Team Russia once again. Despite momentum being squarely on the side of the Russians, Team Sweden pushed back and capitalized on sloppy play to close the second period with a goal from Pernilla Winberg to pull within one score. The action once again heated up in the third period, with the Swedish team bringing the pressure in all three zones. The majority of the third period was spent playing sound defense, but Team Russia eventually scored the goal that sealed the victory. Team captain and forward Yekaterina Smolentseva scored the third and final goal.

Russian forward Pashkevich told the The Washington Post about playing any team from Group A: “Anybody in the other group is obviously a very strong opponent. That’s the reason they’re in that group.”

For Team Russia, the victory means it will go on to play Switzerland in the semifinals on Monday. While the Swiss have a strong core of players, the team has lost all three games in group play and was utterly dominated by Team USA and Canada. On the other hand, the loss from Team Sweden means it must go head-to-head with one of the toughest teams in the tournament, Team Finland. Led by goaltender Noora Raty, the Finnish women have played the toughest competitions with ferocity.