Finland’s national ringette team beat Canada 8–2 in the first match of the World Ringette World Cup final. The second final will be played on Sunday from 16:00 and can be watched on TV2 and Areena.
Finland’s national ring team continued its strong performances against Canada in front of the home crowd.
In two practice matches, Finland crushed Canada’s crushing record and crushed Canada 8–2 in the first ringette final played in Espoo.
Finland led the match 4–0 already after the first quarter and Laurie St-Pierre was allowed to make room For Jasmine Leblanc. The change of goalkeeper did not help Canada, as Finland jumped out to a 5–0 lead right at the beginning of the second period. Canada reduced the game to 1–5 and came within three goals at the beginning of the third period, but Finland entered the final period with a clear 7–2 lead. Trouper Anne Pohjola hit Loppulukemat 8–2 in the final moments of the final set with his second hit of the evening, and he was awarded as the best player in Finland.
Nordic, Susanna Tapani and Roosa Salonen formed the number one joke was on the move. Tapani scored a hat trick in the match and Salonen scored twice. Finland’s opening goal was scored by a native of Espoo Marianna Kuiko.
– We have found these chemistries quite well on the field. Sometimes it was a bit too much of a joke, Tapani laughed.
– When we got to play in front of this kind of audience, you have to enjoy every moment. We really got a lot of strength from the audience, everyone was smiling in the changing room and on the field. Even though it was a bit sticky at times, we kept the joy of the game with us all the time, the captain continued.
Despite the cheesy readings, Canada also had its moments.
– The game started according to the script, after that the guy started getting really hard. My game didn’t go well, I started to get a little nervous, I didn’t get the tires on the stick, but luckily today a great goalkeeping game kept us up, Finland’s head coach Pasi Kataja saw
Finnish goalkeeper Maria Perkkola made 31 saves.
Pohjola’s injury scared me
Finland’s joy at the goal was dimmed by Anne Pohjola’s injury in the opening set. Pohjola fell down in front of the goal in a bad way, and was carried to the side of the dressing room. However, the striker returned to the game at the end of the set, and managed to score twice in the match.
Sports expert Blue Forsblom believed that Finland’s run will also continue in the second final match on Sunday.
– It would be great if Canada managed to take the final series to the overtime, but I don’t believe in it. If no miracles happen and Anne Pohjola is able to play on Sunday as well, and she hasn’t been injured from a back concussion, we’ll see the same thing on Sunday.
According to Forsblom, the final was yet another lesson for Canada, which developed Ringete.
– I’m waiting to see when these lessons will start to be seen. This was a bit better again, but when the games start to be interrupted, I would hope to see even more reaction to the Finns’ moves. The Finns’ tricks are clearly not used to being seen in the Canadian series.
Head coach Pasi Kataja assured that Finland will not go to the second final match with their jacket open.
– Yes, the players know, they have so much experience in the booth. Let’s keep the situation neutral all the time and focus on one change at a time, Kataja assured.
In Ringete, the world championship is decided on the basis of two matches. The team with the most points wins the World Cup gold. You get two points for a win, zero for a loss and one for a draw.
The second final match will be played on Sunday from 16:00, and you can watch it on TV2 and Areena. If the teams are tied after the second final match, the follow-up match will be played with the goal across the board system.