Women's ice hockey team crushed in scoreless defeat
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Park Chae-lin of the unified Korean women's ice hockey team, right, passes the puck during her side's PyeongChang Olympics women's ice hockey game against Switzerland at Kwandong Hockey Centre in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, Saturday. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
By Kang Hyun-kyung
The unified women’s ice hockey team lost their much-anticipated Olympic debut against Switzerland.
Switzerland routed Team Korea 8-0.
Swiss forward Alina Muller dominated the first and second periods at the Gwangdong Hockey Center in the eastern city of Gangneung. After scoring a shorthanded first goal in the first period, Muller successfully fired four shots in total. Her teammate Staenz scored two goals in the second period, followed by her another teammate’s two goals.
Switzerland was unstoppable.
Switzerland took 52 shots at the Korea's net, compared to Team Korea’s 6 shots against the European country.
Although the team lost, goalie Shin So-jong shined throughout the game. She stopped 44 shots by the Swiss team, including one super save in the second period of a shot by Muller.
But her splendid performance couldn’t stop Switzerland’s rout of Korea’s unified women’s hockey team which was formed just two weeks before the Olympics. The unified team failed to make the most of its power play.
President Moon Jae-in watched the game, along with Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee, and Lee Hee-beom, president of the PyeongChang Olympics organizing committee. Seated near them also watching the historic game were Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un, and the nominal head of the country, Kim Yong-nam. This is the first time for the two Koreas to field a joint team in the Olympics.
North Korean cheerleaders were there, chanting for Team Korea.
The showdown with Switzerland showed the European country, which won a bronze medal at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, is stronger than Korea.
The Swiss women’s team ranks 6th in the world, compared with South Korea’s rank of 22nd and North Korea’s 25th.
Switzerland crushed South Korea 5-2 in a friendly game in August last year in Albertville, France.
Following the showdown with Switzerland, the unified team will face Sweden on Monday and a game with Japan will follow on Wednesday.
The South Korean women’s national team has improved significantly after head coach Sarah Murray joined the team in 2014. Last year, they won the International Ice Hockey Association Division II Group A Championship and were promoted to Division I Group B. Their current world ranking reflects their surge in recent years.
The national team’s performance further improved during their winter training in Minnesota, according to a source familiar with the team. “We’ll see how the unified team will turn out,” he said before the game, requesting anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media.
His remarks indicate that the 13 North Korean players joining the team have emerged as a factor in determining Team Korea’s performance during the Olympics.
On Jan. 12, head coach Murray expressed worries about the decision to field a joint team and said team chemistry matters in hockey.
Yang Seung-jun, chief officer of National Hockey Team, said the players of the two Koreas are getting along very well with each other.
“Initially we were concerned about teamwork because the joint team came together all of a sudden,” he said. “It’s amazing how the girls of the two countries are working hard together, bringing out the synergy of the joint team. The coaching staff has also tried hard to integrate the players as a team.”
For Team Korea, Yang said there are no easy teams they will play in Group B as all of the other teams are stronger than Korea.