Recap The Court

Jacob Smith

Canada played their semifinal in the Women’s World Championship this evening against Switzerland and a 5-1 win has sent them to the gold medal game where they will meet USA once again.

A chance at another gold medal was created by stellar defense and the play of Sarah Fillier who had herself a hat trick in the victory. For the first half of the game, Canada was able to keep the puck mostly out of their zone due to their pressure and control. Switzerland didn’t get a shot on goal until 15 minutes into the game at which point Canada had 12, and the defense kept the score at 0-0 going into the second period.

Switzerland started to press more in the second period and try and get the puck going quickly the other way, but the ability for Canada to not give up easy chances made it hard for Switzerland to capitalize and Canada continued to get their shots on net.

11:06 into the second period, a numbers advantage for the Canadians gave Fillier the puck in front and she buried it for her first goal of the match and gave Canada the 1-0 lead. Six minutes later, she found her spots again and put it in the back of the net, making it 2-0 Canada with just under three minutes remaining in the second period, and suddenly the game was blown open for Canada who’s press was starting to open holes in the Switzerland play.

Jamie Lee Rattray was the next beneficiary of the puck movement from the Canadians, and a power play opportunity was put in the back of the net to give Canada a 3-0 lead. Though Switzerland was getting more shots on net, great goaltending from Ann-Renee Desbiens snuffed any shots and kept Canada’s comfortable lead at just that while Fillier scored her third 15:04 into the period making it 4-0. With a semifinal victory all but sealed, Alina Muller scored one for Switzerland on a 5-3 power play to make it 4-0 Canada but the Canadians answered back in the final minute making it 5-1 and ending the game.

Canada meets USA once again in the final and another tale in this historic rivalry will be written. Going against the offensive firepower of the USA, Canada’s defense that they’ve shown throughout the tournament will once again have to show up, to secure another gold medal for this Canadian squad.