2026 Olympic Women’s Hockey: Top standouts from Finland vs. Switzerland quarterfinal game
Switzerland pulled off one of the biggest upsets in modern women’s hockey history, defeating Finland 1-0 in the quarterfinals at the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics and setting up a semifinal matchup against the defending champions in Canada.
The Finns started strong, entering the offensive zone with ease and generating plenty of chances on Swiss goaltender Andrea Braendli, who stood tall in the blue paint and stopped all 14 shots she faced in the opening frame.
The Swiss did a better job of neutralizing Finland’s chances in the second, although the shots still favored the Finns 10-5. But with five minutes left in the period, Swiss forward Alina Muller won a faceoff in the Finnish zone and Lara Stalder quickly passed it back to Muller, who buried it past goaltender Sanni Ahola to make it 1-0 Switzerland.
Finland came out for the final frame and wasted no time, as they dominated possession and generated 16 shots on Braendli, throwing everything they could at the Swiss netminder. The third-period shot chart provided by the IIHF highlights how many high-quality scoring chances Finland produced.
But despite multiple power-play opportunities and limiting their opponent to just two shots in the third period, Finland was unable to tie it and Switzerland held on for a 1-0 win.
The Finns outshot the Swiss 40-14, with the trio of Petra Nieminen, Michelle Karvinen and Elisa Holopainen having more combined shots (16) than the entire Swiss lineup.
Switzerland will now face Canada in the semifinals on Monday, guaranteeing the chance of winning a medal. They have one Olympic medal in women’s hockey, earning bronze in 2014.
Meanwhile, this is just the second time in the history of the Finnish women’s program that they won’t have a chance at playing for a medal — the first also being in 2014.
Switzerland
Andrea Braendli, G
In what may be the top individual performance of this year’s tournament, Braendli put on a show, stopping all 40 shots she faced, including a 16-shot barrage in the final frame. There were multiple instances through the game where a Finnish player was wide open in the slot, but Braendli never wavered, bailing out her teammates over and over.
Alina Muller, F
Muller was Switzerland’s best skater on Saturday, scoring their lone goal and winning 17 of 29 faceoffs, a rate just under 60%. She now has three goals in the tournament.
Finland
Nelli Laitinen, D
It felt like Nelli Laitinen was on the ice for the entire third period, ending the night with four shots and more than 25 minutes of icetime. She did an excellent job of generating opportunities for both herself and her teammates, and if Braendli wasn’t having a game for the ages, she would have had two or three points.