2026 Olympic Women’s Hockey: Top standouts from Czechia vs. Sweden quarterfinal game
An upset to kick off the knockout stage of the women’s hockey tournament at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Thanks to a gutsy effort and an exceptional defensive display, Sweden stunned medal-favorite Czechia on Friday, 2-0, to advance to the semifinals.
It marks the first time that Damkornoma has made it to the final four at the Winter Games since the Sochi Games 12 years ago.
There wasn’t a whole lot of offense compared to other games in the tournament. Sweden understood that, if they wanted to beat a team with a scoring attack like Czechia, they were going to have to bunker down defensively. The Swedes limited the Czechs to six shots on goal in the opening period, and while the offense ramped up in the second, Sweden didn’t seem out of sorts in their own zone.
Czechia got into penalty trouble in the middle stanza, and Sweden’s offensive weapons went to work. Great movement led to Hanna Olsson beating Czech goaltender Klára Peslarová, giving Sweden their fifth power-play goal of the tournament, tying them with Canada for the most so far.
With their Olympic hopes on the line, the Czechs unleashed a full-scale attack on Sweden’s Ebba Svensson Träff in the third. With a couple of power plays, Czechia had so many chances to tie the game. However, thanks to Svensson Träff and an empty-net goal from Hilda Svensson, Sweden was able to pull off the substantial victory.
Czechia outshot Sweden, 29-23. Sweden went 1-for-5 on the power play, while the Czechs were 0-for-4. Even with all of their weapons, Czechia went 1-for-12 in the tournament on the player advantage.
With their final-four appearance, Sweden will have a chance to win its first medal since the team’s improbable run to the gold medal game in 2006.
Czechia falls out in the quarterfinals in its second straight Olympic appearance, scoring just seven goals across five games.
Sweden
Ebba Svensson Träff, G
When you’re the underdog, you sometimes have to rely on your goaltender to come through in the clutch. Svensson Träff did that and then some on Friday. Czechia fired 13 shots at her in the final 20 minutes, but the 21-year-old netminder stood tall. She posted her second shutout of the tournament, further cementing herself as the future of Swedish goaltending. Not bad for someone who many of us didn’t expect to play over Emma Söderberg in Milan.
Hilda Svensson, F
Even with so much promise and so much excitement, Svensson had to be a more complete player on Friday. While she scored the clinching goal and set up Olsson’s marker in the second period, how she was able to alter her approach for the betterment of the team gives me hope that the Ohio State freshman can develop into one of the top two-way players in all of hockey.
Mira Jungaker, D
Jungaker and Maja Nylén Persson have been getting the tough assignments all tournament long and have come out with their heads well above water. Against Czechia, Jungaker was great at directing attacking forwards from prime scoring areas, forcing shots to the outside and playing an outstanding game in her own end. The 20-year-old played 28:29 of ice time, second only to Nylén Persson.
Czechia
Adéla Šapovalivová, F
Not going to lie, I thought this was Šapovalivová’s chance to light up the world. The Wisconsin Badger has the hands and skills to make her a mainstay on the Czech National Team for a long time. While he finished the tournament with just one assist, she had a number of chances to get into the goal column on Friday. Šapovalivová finished tied with Natálie Mlýnková for the team lead with six shots on goal in the loss.