‘It’s a dream come true’: Switzerland cherishes Olympic women’s hockey bronze victory
Switzerland earned the Olympic bronze medal in women’s hockey on Thursday after Alina Muller scored the overtime-winning goal against Sweden in a 2-1 OT victory.
It’s Switzerland’s first medal in women’s hockey since Sochi 2014, when they won bronze against, again, Sweden.
“It’s a dream come true,” Muller said after the game. “It was a very tight game, so (it was) even more fun to win like that.”
Muller, who closed the the tournament with four goals and five points, gave her teammates lots of love, including goaltender Andrea Braendli, who stopped 32 of 33 shots and finished with a .953 save percentage and 1.94 goals against average in four games.
“The girls, this team, deserve it so much. We fought so hard,” she said.
Muller, who plays for the PWHL’s Boston Fleet, said it was a “blackout” when she scored in overtime.
“I don’t know. It was amazing. Just seeing all my teammates coming at me is the coolest feeling ever,” she said.
“We really wanted this. We felt good about it the whole tournament. To get it done, it’s a tough tournament,” she added. “Everybody wants to win. I wouldn’t want it with any other team.”
Here’s what Daily Faceoff writer Tyler Kuehl wrote on Muller in his post-game recap:
“Expect anyone else? Every time Müller touched the puck from the beginning of the third period on, it looked like she was going to try and win the game herself. That’s just the kind of player that she is. Confident, determined and a bulldog when the game is on the line.
The chance she had right before her winner nearly ended the game. Müller led Switzerland with five shots on goal in the game, and posted a team-high four goals and five points in the tournament.”