Friday, 07 May 2010
Laura Loisa sent Finland to the final Print E-mail

Finland entered the second semifinal better. Already after 24 seconds Jenni Tikkanen scored a surprising goal after a big mistake by the goalie Lohrer. But less than a minute later the Finnish defence left too much space to Rüttimann. The fact that leaving space to this player is not a good idea was confirmed by her equalizer. And another bright moment of the player wearing number 10 on her jersey came at the very beginning of the sixth minute. First, she looked as if she was not interested in the game at all, but eventually the ball found its way to her and the Swiss scorer sent it into the net behind Loisa.

 

Laura Hietamäki proved that this game was rather up-and-down and tied the game at 2:2. And Finland confirmed their domination with another goal before the break. Mirja then copied her sister and sent Finland into a two-goal lead – 4:2. The Finns were controlling the ball for most of the game, and the Swiss players were posing danger for the Finnish goal mostly from breakaways. However, their offensive efforts were often stopped by the excellent goalie Loisa, whose performance entitled her for a spot in the all-star team. Finland absolutely dominated the second period and a part of the third as well, but the image of the game changed in the 51st minute when Rantanen was penalized. The Swiss pressure brought the desired reduction of the score by the very active Nina-Maria Bärtschi. Then the red-and-white players were desperately trying to level the game and tried to find a space through which it would be possible to get the ball into the net. But all their attempts were stopped by the determined Finnish defence, and the rest was saved by the amazing Loisa. Switzerland pulled their goalie with a bit less than three minutes left in the game, but they did not manage to score. Therefore, they will not repeat their participation in the final from Poland, and will have to do with the bronze medal game against the Czech Republic.

 

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