Programs
Competitions
Venues
Access
A la carte
Photo Album
From the Olympics Toward Tomorrow
 |
China exploits defensive lapse in win over Japan
12:00 CAN 5-3 SWE
16:00 JPN 1-6 CHN
20:00 USA 4-2 FIN
Sweden pushes Canada to the limit in women's hockey
For a team that is supposed to be blowing by the lesser knowns in the six-nation women's ice hockey tournament of the Nagano Winter Olympic Games, Canada is having a pretty tough time winning games these days.
Canada defeated Sweden 5-3 at the Aqua Wing on Wednesday but it was hardly a reassuring victory for the Canadian women, coming after they barely edged China 3-0 Monday.
Sweden, considered one of the weaker teams in the tournament put up a valiant effort, fighting back from a three-goal deficit to make the game interesting while worrying the Canadian faithful.
Canada built up a 4-1 lead when Therese Brisson scored on a power-play at 5:05 of the second period, swooping in from the side of the net and putting a backhander between the pads of Swedish goaltender Lotta Goethesson.
But the persistent Swedes fought back. Enjoying with a player advantage, Pernilla Burholm made it 4-2 when she scored at 18:11 of the second period on a deflection off a shot from the point.
Danielle Goyette scored her second goal of the game for Canada on a nice setup by Haley Wickenheiser to make it 5-2 for Canada after 34 seconds of the third period.
But less than two minutes later, Sweden closed the gap to 5-3 when Therese Sjoelander intercepted a pass at the blue line and passed to Christina Mansson who put it up high over Canadian goaltender Lesley Reddon.
Canada built up a 3-0 lead on goals by Danielle Goyette, Karen Nystrom and Nancy Drolet.
Canada's next game will be against Finland Thursday while Sweden takes on China. (Kyodo News)
China exploits defensive lapse in win over Japan
The Chinese women's hockey team picked up its first victory of the women's ice hockey tournament at the Nagano Olympic Winter Games on Wednesday with a convincing 6-1 win over host Japan at the Aqua Wing.
Led by Guo Wei, who scored three goals, including two in the third period, the Chinese women took advantage of a breakdown in Japan's defense.
Guo picked up her third goal of the game late in the third period when she took a pass from Liu Hongmei, beating Japan's goaltender Yuka Oda with a wrist shot to the top corner.
Sang Hong also tallied in the third period to put the Chinese up by a score of 5-1 after Guo scored on a power play at 6:31 of the third to widen China's lead to 4-1.
Japan got on the scoreboard in the third period on a power play when Masako Sato picked up a big rebound and went to her left, beating China's goaltender Guo Hong with a backhander.
The Japanese defense broke down completely in the second and third periods. China's stronger forwards were left unchecked in front of Japan's net and took full advantage.
China exploded for three goals in the second period when Zhang Lan, Yang Xiuqing and Guo Wei scored within a brief one minute span of the second.
''While we played a disciplined checking game in the first period, we completely lost our concentration in the second period and that's what led to those three goals,'' said Japan's head coach Toru Itabashi.
The Japanese forwards had trouble penetrating China's defense and were limited to only seven shots on goal while China had 44.
Japan played well in the first period and Oda came up with some big saves to keep the game tied at 0-0.
Going into the tournament, the Chinese were one of the teams that Japan's assistant coach Wally Kozak felt the Japanese could beat.
But China, riding on the confidence of their game against Canada, proved to be too much for the Japanese women to handle. Both teams entered the day's action with 0-2 records. (Kyodo News)
U.S. women dominate Finland for 4-2 victory
The United States women's ice hockey team cruised to an impressive 4-2 victory over Finland on Wednesday at the Nagano Olympic Winter Games.
The U.S. and Finland have placed second and third, respectively, in the last four world championships and are both medal favorites long with world champion Canada.
With the victory, the U.S. team improved to a perfect 3-0 and is tied atop the standings with Canada while Finland fell to 2-1.
Karen Bye had one goal and two assists in leading the U.S. over the Finnish team. The larger U.S. squad was able to control the play along the boards which led to many of the U.S. goals.
The U.S. went up 4-2 late in the second period after Bye stole the puck behind Finland's goal and fed it to Gretchen Ulion who drove it into the top corner on the glove side of Finnish goalkeeper Tuula Puputti.
Tara Mounsey scored the third U.S. goal on a power play when she beat the Finnish goalie with a low drive to the glove side.
Finland tied the game 2-2 after U.S goalie Sarah Tueting misplayed a long shot behind the net. The puck bounced right out to Rikka Nieminen who fired it into the wide open net.
Bye circled behind Finland's goal and knocked in a lose puck at the side of the net for the second U.S. goal of the game early in the second period.
With Patricia Dunn in the penalty box for hooking, Kirsi Hanninen tied the game 18:09 on a blast from the blue line that got by the U.S. goaltender.
Victoria Movsessian put the U.S. up 1-0 when she tucked home a rebound into a wide open net at 2:48 of the first period. (Kyodo News)
No part of the article, photographs, or illustrations presented here may be printed or used without permission.
Copyright 1998 The Shinano Mainichi Shimbun