“There are no favorites, we prepare ourselves better”

The Finnish women’s national ice hockey team cleared the B group without losses and advanced to the next games as the group winner.

On Monday, in their final match of Group B, Naisleijonat defeated Hungary with a score of 5–0. Played the second adult World Cup match of his career Sanni Ahola kept his goal intact even though Hungary had his place.

– Goal number one was achieved, i.e. we won the first group. You have to be really satisfied with that. The look and the way the team has grown to win games is a really big deal. We conceded a few goals, it must be continued, head coach Juuso Toivola your sum.

Even though the game was under Finland’s control, there was still room for improvement in the Naisleijonien’s grips, thinking about the next games.

Toivola also admitted that.

– Doubles victories, playing together, i.e. as a tight five, support for the player with and without the puck and finishing more effectively from the goal posts, the head coach listed.

In the opening set of the match against Hungary, he only managed to score Nelli Laitinen.

The victory was secured in the second set, when Finland struck three times: first at the beginning of the set Jenni Hiirikoski hit his first hit of the tournament with an upper hand.

Finland’s strong six-second run in the second half of the set finally produced two hits: Jenniina Nylund first took advantage of Finland’s superiority and hit the goalkeeper Aniko Nemeth the puck bounced from the equipment to the goal. Just six seconds later, the puck was in the goal again. Emilia Vesan the shot seemed to fail, but rolled into the goal guarded by Nemeth.

It was also the World Cup record for the two fastest goals scored.

Despite the figures, there was room for improvement in Naisleijonien’s performances.

– Pretty sticky in my opinion, easy mistakes, make the game difficult for ourselves. Hopefully we can raise the level for the last 20 minutes, Tulus commented after the second set in Discovery’s halftime interview.

The desired improvement in the final set has not yet been seen, though Ronja Savolainen and managed to increase the winning numbers to 5–0.

Finland won all four matches in the first group with a score of 26–3. On the other hand, against Sweden, for example, it was difficult – the victory was only achieved in the final set when experienced individuals emerged. The stars of Lulea Viivi Vainikka, Petra Nieminen and Ronja Savolainen hit the necessary hits and brought Finland an easy victory.

The giants of North America were avoided

The group win was especially important for Finland, because now the Women’s Lions avoid the North American giants, the USA and Canada, in the quarterfinals. The USA and Canada will decide the victory of the A group in their mutual meeting Finnish time on the night between Monday and Tuesday.

The teams that finished first and second in the A group will receive the second and third in the B group. Finland, the winner of B-group, will face the third of A-group.

At the moment, the Czech Republic is third in Group A, but Japan and Switzerland also still have their chances. You can see the series tables at this link.

Finland has met the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals in the three previous World Cups (2022, 2021, 2019). The matches have traditionally been even, and last fall in Denmark, the Czech Republic came out victorious.

Head coach Toivola did not have a particular favorite for Finland’s opponent.

– All are different teams, we accept anyone. Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. There are no favorites. We accept whoever comes, we prepare ourselves better, Toivola acknowledged.

Maximum recovery time

Finland gets the maximum recovery time for the quarterfinals: more than two days. The semifinals don’t start until Thursday, and the match between Finland and Hungary started already at 11:00 a.m. local time on Monday.

Head coach Toivola promised Naisleijon a day off from ice hockey for Tuesday.

– On Wednesday, with these prospects, we will go on the ice and prepare for Thursday’s quarterfinals. A little time together, some time and collecting energy. Let’s forget hockey for a while so we can come back even better!

Finland’s opponent will be determined at the latest on the night before Wednesday Finnish time, when the Czech Republic and Switzerland meet.