By Trevor Stynes and Giulio Piovaccari
MILAN, Feb 15 (Reuters) – Switzerland goaltender Andrea Braendli put in a stellar performance on Saturday, saving all 40 shots Finland sent her way, to help her side reach the semi-finals of the women’s Olympic ice hockey tournament, after her coach opted for a change between the posts.
Saskia Maurer was Switzerland’s goaltender for the first two games, with Braendli coming in to face the United States. After a 5-0 loss, coach Colin Muller switched back to Maurer to face Finland in the group, which ended in a 3-1 loss.
With a rematch with the Finns looming in the quarter-final, Muller was faced with a difficult choice.
“I mean, unbelievable, unbelievable,” Muller said, when asked about Braendli’s performance after the 1-0 victory that set up a semi-final clash with defending champions Canada on Monday.
“But we’ve had that from Saskia too, our goalies this tournament, both have been totally great,” he said. “So it was a tough decision who to put in the net, but I knew that after we lost the last game against the Finns, I was going to go with Andrea.
“And I knew she could handle the pressure and Saskia can as well. Both of them can do the job.”
After shutting out Finland and taking the acclaim of her team mates at the final buzzer and the applause from the fans, Braendli was still in shock.
“I don’t have thoughts right now, I can’t believe this,” Braendli said.
“I knew going into that game that I needed to perform at my best, that we needed to perform at our best, and we did that, and this is just an incredible feeling,” she said.
“I haven’t even processed it yet, so ask me again in like three hours and then I might get a good answer.”
MULLER COMES THROUGH AGAIN
Alina Muller scored the game-winning goal that won bronze for Switzerland in 2014, becoming at 15 the youngest ice hockey player to win an Olympic medal, and against Finland hers was the goal that saw her side advance.
Muller was full of praise for her goaltender, her team’s other hero in Milan.
“Braendli was amazing, we wouldn’t be here without her,” Muller said.
“Some of the saves she made were unbelievable,” Muller said. “Afterwards, you just tried to clear all the pucks in front of her as good as we can and block some shots, and I think the team overall did a really, really good job.”
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes in Milan; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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