After 0–11 in the Olympic quarter-finals in Beijing, the new, young Women’s Crowns took a big step in the World Cup quarter-finals.
Eight goals difference in six months – and not least the fighting spirit, persistence and belief in the impossible was the big difference.
Goalkeeper Emma Söderberg was replaced after two periods in Beijing and nine goals conceded.
On Thursday night, she stood like a giant in the rain of pucks, saving 54 of 57 Canadian shots.
— It’s never fun to lose, but I’m damn proud of how we went in and drove today. We give them a good match, they couldn’t take anything for granted, she says.
“Sweep Us Under The Rug”
She also experienced the Olympic gold team from February and the reigning world champion became frustrated.
— It feels like they thought they could just sweep us under the rug. But they realized quite early on that they would have to work hard for this. You could see that they celebrated quite hard when they had scored their second goal, says Söderberg.
By then, roughly half the match had been played. And at the end of the second period, the Swedes had a golden opportunity to scare Canada even more. But two straight powerplays didn’t produce results – even if it was close.
— The few chances we get, we must still try to press on. If we had scored a goal or two, they would probably have been incredibly nervous. I think we fight for it for 60 minutes, but we have to practice the shots, says Ljungblom, whose team clearly lost the shooting statistics, 9-57.
“Worth investing in us”
In fact, the Women’s Crowns have only lost by a narrower margin once in the history of the championships which featured 16 straight losses to Canada.
In the 1998 Nagano Olympics, Canada won 5–3.
Ljungblom on what the Swedish effort means for the future:
— Very much, it’s clear that we want to be victorious, but it’s an incredibly big step compared to Beijing. It shows that women’s hockey is moving forward in Sweden and that it is worth investing in us. There is a lot of good to take with you.