Sochi 2014: Women's Quarter Finals 02/15

Finland v Sweden 2-4 - Emma Eliasson scored with 4:15 to play and Sweden beat defending bronze medalist Finland 4-2 in the Olympic women's hockey quarter-finals Saturday, a reversal of the result from the third-place game four years ago. Valentina Wallner made 29 saves for Sweden, which will play the United States in the semifinals. Finland, the No. 3 seed in the world, drops to the classification bracket and can finish no better than fifth. Two-time NCAA champion Noora Raty made 28 saves for Finland. But she could not see Eliasson's slapshot from the blue line that held up as the game-winner. The game was a rough one for women's hockey, which does not allow the body-checking that would be familiar to fans of the NHL or the men's international game. Finland's Nina Tikkinen was cross-checked to the ice in front of the Sweden net, banging her head on the ice as she landed, and a skirmish at the other end led to four-minute roughing penalties for Minttu Tuominen of Finland and Erika Grahm of Sweden. Finland took the lead 13 minutes into the second when Wallner stopped Linda Valimaki's shot with her blocker but left it in front for Venla Hovi. Sweden tied it on a power-play goal early in the second period when Anna Borgqvist's shot deflected off a defenceman's stick and the tip of Raty's skate into the net. Lina Wester gave Sweden the lead with 14:51 left in the third, but Finland tied it just 12 seconds later when Karoliina Rantamaki dug the puck out from behind the net and passed it in front to Emma Nuutinen. Sweden took a 3-2 lead on Eliasson's power-play goal and Emma Nordin added an empty-netter.



Russia v Switzerland 0-2 - On the same day that the Russian men's hockey team played its much-anticipated showdown with the United States, the Russian women were eliminated from medal contention, losing to Switzerland, 2-0. Stefanie Marty's first-period goal was the difference, while Lara Stadler's empty-net score with just 21 seconds remaining wrapped things up for the Swiss. But it was Swiss goalie Florence Schelling who was the hero. Russia held nearly every advantage except in the final score. They outshot the Swiss, 41-27. They had eight minutes on the power play to just two for Switzerland. They even had the home crowd urging them on in a game they were expected to win. Switzerland not only didn't win a game in the preliminary round, they were outscored, 18-3. Contrast that to Russia, which won all three of their preliminary games and outscored their opponents, 9-3. Granted, Switzerland played in the far more competitive Group A, but they still had absolutely no momentum heading into this contest. Switzerland's reward for defeating the Russians will be a date with the mighty Canadians, who have won 18 straight Olympic games and defeated the United States in the preliminary round, 3-2. Russia, meanwhile, cannot win a medal but will look to win their last two games to salvage some pride. They'll begin with a match against Japan, a team that has never won in the Olympics and scored their first Olympic goal against, you guessed it, the Russians. Russia won that game, however, 2-1, a narrow margin that surprised some folks. Perhaps it was an indication that the Russians simply weren't quite ready to compete for a medal in these games. The Swiss will now fancy their chances at a bronze medal, however.