Switzerland Wins Olympic Bronze Over Sweden

Swiss hockey and Alina Müller go together like peanut butter and jelly, milk and cookies, and macaroni and cheese. It’s hard to talk about one without the other—which is why it’s only fitting that Müller scored the overtime goal to win Olympic bronze for Switzerland.

Müller’s goal, which came at 9:09 of the overtime period, adds to her total as Switzerland's all-time Olympic goal scoring leader. The Boston Fleet forward now has 16 Olympic goals in four tournaments and is still only 27 years old.

Thursday’s game opened with a scoreless first period. Sweden controlled much of the play early on, holding their opponent without a shot on goal for the first four minutes and change. The game started to even out a bit after that, but Sweden still dominated in puck possession and overall chances. Shots were 8-5 after the opening twenty minutes.

The second period started similarly. Sweden kept Switzerland without a shot on goal for the first 6:21, until Ivana Wey got the puck ahead of the play and had a breakaway. A hook from Thea Johansson resulted in a penalty shot. Wey tried to go five-hole, but Ebba Svensson Träff denied the opportunity.

But that seemed to give Switzerland a spark, as they had a few more good chances following the penalty shot. Swedish defender Mira Jungåker made a critical block and appeared to be in pain on the bench for a while, but not only did she return to the ice—she scored.

With 8:20 to play in the second period, the Ohio State blueliner gave Sweden the 1-0 lead. Jungåker picked up a feed from Hilda Svensson at the point, sending the shot through to the net. With a crowd in front, Andrea Brändli couldn't see the puck and had no chance to stop it as it rang off the post and into the top right corner of the net.

Sweden’s lead lasted exactly four minutes before Sinja Leemann scored the equalizer. An aggressive forecheck forced Hanna Olsson to lose the puck on a fanned shot in the Swiss zone. Leemann, who forced the turnover, shot it towards the net but missed on the initial chance. Alina Marti followed up from behind the net, saucing it to Leemann in front for the easy tap-in.

Each team had a power play in the third period, but it was a stalemate. Sweden had more chances as the clock wound down, with Switzerland's best opportunities coming on their advantage. After sixty minutes, Sweden led in shots on goal, 31-18, having outshot their opponent 13-6 in the third period.

Overtime in the bronze medal game feature a 10-minute, sudden-death period played 3-on-3. If no one scored in those 10 minutes, the game would head to a shootout. Thursday's game didn't quite get there, but barely so.

Overtime featured great end-to-end action. Laura Zimmermann had an early chance for Switzerland when she picked up the puck off a Swedish defensive miscue in their offensive zone, but Svensson Träff made the save. A few minutes later, Jungåker nearly had a 2-on-1, but her attempted cross-ice pass was broken up. A great chance at one end was followed by a similarly fantastic opportunity at the other.

The clock began to wind down. Lara Stalder was mere inches from ending it with a shot that rang off the far post; Müller soon followed with another chance but couldn't quite control it. Switzerland had the edge in overtime and outshot Sweden 7-2.

It isn't over until the buzzer sounds, and Müller’s game-winning goal came with just 51 seconds left in overtime. She cycled the puck back into the neutral zone and her own end, then carried it back up the ice. A back pass found Ivana Wey, who passed it under the Swedish defender and back to Müller. She was able to lift the puck up over the stick of the Swedish forward trying to defend against her, putting the puck high and off the crossbar, into the net.

Wey and Lara Christen assisted on the game-winning tally.

Brändli stopped 32 of 33 shots faced, while Svensson Träff made 30 saves. Müller led her team with five shots, while Alessia Baechler (Northeastern) skated a team-high 29:08. Only Jungåker (29:29) and New York Sirens defender Maja Nylén Persson (30:23) played more among the skaters.

With the bronze, Switzerland won its first medal in women’s hockey since 2014 in Sochi, where they also won bronze over Sweden. Sweden’s medal drought has now extended to 20 years; they last won (silver) in 2006.