HV-71’s Finns’ goals were not enough, as Luleå, also favored by Finns, won 6–3 and continued to the semi-finals.
The Finns have been under attack this season as well in the Swedish women’s hockey league SDHL. So also on Friday in the quarter-final meeting between HV71 and Luleå.
HV71’s Sanni Hakala underpowered the visitors to take the lead in the opening set, but Luleån Nora Tulus brought the home team to level soon. Swedish defender Anna Kjellbin struck a moment later to give Luleå a 2–1 lead.
At the beginning of the second period Petra Nieminen took the home team to a 3–1 lead. The scariest situation of the match came moments later, when Luleå’s star defender Ronja Savolainen got the puck on his neck.
Savolainen lay on the ice for a while before leaving to the side of the dressing room.
– The puck came straight to my neck and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. There was a little panic. It wasn’t nice, but luckily it didn’t get any worse, Savolainen commented on C More’s broadcast.
– Breathing is challenging and affects the teeth a bit, but that’s part of hockey, when it hurts, you know you’ve done something for the team.
The Finns were also responsible for the following hits: first, Hakala closed the night with her second before Delay Vainikan 4-2 hits.
However, HV71 was responsible for the most spectacular hit of the evening Kiira Yrjänen, who scored a beautiful aerial goal in the final set. However, it wasn’t enough for the team from Jönköping, which ended up losing 3-6.
Anni Keisala stretched to 39 saves with the Jönköping team’s goal, but his, Hakalan’s, Yrjässen’s, Summer in Käyhkö and Ella Viitasuo the season in the Swedish league ended. Luleå continued to the semi-finals with 2–0 wins and is now aiming for its fifth consecutive championship.
Lionesses Michelle Karvinen represented Frölunda, on the other hand, took another step towards the main league SDHL on Saturday. The team from Gothenburg crushed Björkloven in the second match of the qualifying series 7–0 and advanced to the finals of the league qualifiers.
As usual, Karvinen was on the attack and was involved in almost every hit of his team. The Finnish striker scored 1+5.