Finland's Susanna Tapani (77) and Canada's Jocelyne Larocque (3) battle for the puck during first-period hockey action at the IIHF Women's World Hockey Championship in Utica, N.Y., Thursday, April 4, 2024. Tapani scored the winning goal and added an assist as Finland advanced to the semifinals of the world women's hockey championship with a 3-1 win over Switzerland on Thursday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi
UTICA, N.Y. – Susanna Tapani scored the winning goal and added an assist as Finland advanced to the semifinals of the world women’s hockey championship with a 3-1 win over Switzerland on Thursday.
Tapani’s deciding goal came at 16:34 of the second period when she tipped a shot from Petra Nieminen past Swiss goaltender Andrea Braendli.
Nieminen and Nelli Laitinen also had a goal and an assist for Finland.
Ivana Wey scored 1:22 into the game for Switzerland, but the Finns dominated the rest of the way.
Sanni Ahola stopped 16 shots for Finland.
Braendli made 34 saves for Switzerland, which advanced to the quarterfinals as the fifth-place team in Group A after failing to get a win in the round robin.
Canada faced Sweden, Germany played Czechia and the defending champion United States met Japan in Thursday’s other quarterfinals.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 11, 2024.
