After a two-year break, Finland advanced to the medal games of the World Championships. According to Urheilu’s expert Mira Jalosuo, Naisleijon still has a lot to improve.
The Women’s Ice Hockey World Cup will be played in Utica, USA. follows the events of the Games in the service, Urheilurutu and Urheiluradio.
Finland advanced to the semi-finals of the Ice Hockey World Cup after a two-year break, when it beat Switzerland 3–1 with the lead of its first team.
The last time Finland played in the medal games was in 2021, when he was still the head coach Pasi Mustonen.
Now Naisleijonat has qualified for the quarterfinals Petra Nieminen and the number one chain, which was involved in every Finnish goal.
– Playing in the semifinals and medal games is a big deal for Finnish women’s ice hockey, Urheilu’s expert Mira Jalosuo start.
Strong underpower
The quarter-final started in a boring way for Finland, when Switzerland took the lead after just over a minute, aided by the defense falling asleep. However, Finland got into the game under the leadership of Nieminen and scored a total of three goals on an even field.
The most positive thing was the understrength. Finland cleared all seven of its ice breaks.
– Alivoima has worked really well. Finland is aggressive, plays well with the stick and gets to the serve lines. It has been the most positive thing about the Games that Alivoima has worked well.
Switzerland held on to the result for a long time and Finland took the lead only at the end of the second set. The female lions still had problems with their puck play and creating scoring opportunities.
– Playing on the puck has to improve tremendously if Finland really wants to win against the United States, says Jalosuo.
against the United States
The Lionesses will face the United States in the semi-finals.
Finland faced the United States once in the first group. The defeat with 3–5 goals flattered Naisleijon, because, for example, the shots in the match were recorded 12–45.
– The game needs to improve a lot. Against Europeans, Finland can win games with skating, but against North Americans, close support must be excellent, says Jalosuo.
Finland has had problems precisely with the way the passes click on the shoulders of the nearest free player. From time to time, Finland has been successful in this, which produced two direct attack goals against the United States, for example.
– I don’t think that Finland gets a lot of turnovers in the attack area. Direct attacks must work.
– There is a big mountain to climb with Naisleijon. The stars have to align to talk about winning against the United States.