Saturday, 08 May 2010
After two years, the gold returned back to Sweden Print E-mail

The Swedes started to exert big pressure on the Finns from the very beginning. They almost did not lend the ball to their Finnish opponents. In the second minute they already went into the lead after a goal by Edberg. Seven minutes later they even increased their lead thanks to a goal by Karlsson. But Loisa still kept the Finnish hopes for a good result. The success came when Lehto scored from a pass by Hietamäki. At 12:31 the Swedes went into a two-goal lead when Rydin scored from a short distance. There was no chance the spectators could be bored. The game was up-and-down and the thrilling atmosphere in the hall was apparent. The Finns closed the gap to one goal at 14:09 thanks to Kauppila. The first period thus ended with the score 3:2.

 

 

At the beginning of the second period the audience saw nice combinations on both sides. Both the goalies were in the centre of attention this time. Jonsson on the Swedish side, and Loisa on the Finnish. Simply everybody must have liked the game, even the teams that have already played all their games (Poland, Austria, Slovakia, Russia, Hungary, or Norway). At 15:52 the Finns tied the game at 3:3. Nikander punished Haglund's foul. At the end of the middle period Rantanen was sent off for incorrect pushing.

The third period started with the remaining time of the Swedish power play, which the Swedes managed to turn into a goal at 40:19. Karlsson was ready to tip in the ball by the post and she did not miss. A few minutes later Karlsson scored again and the Swedes were again two goals up. But there were almost 15 minutes left to be played in the game! And that was the Finnish hope. In the 9th minute Manninen reduced the gap to one goal again and the fans were ecstatic! Finland tried really hard to level the game but they just couldn't score the equalizer. On the other side, Edberg was shooting from all positions. The team Finland took a time out and tried to surprise the Swedes. But the Swedish forward Edberg scooped up the ball on the right wing and scored into the empty net and 32 seconds before the end she increased the lead to 6:4. And since no further goal was scored in the game, the Swedish girls won the title. The Finnish players therefore have to do with silver medals.  They showed great performance and were more than equal to their opponents.

 

To sum it up, the gold goes to Sweden, silver medals go to Finland, and the bronze remains in the Czech Republic.