Medals update: Finland put four past Switzerland to win Beijing 2022 women's ice hockey bronze

Finland tightened their monopoly on the women’s ice hockey bronze medal at the Olympic Winter Games, beating Switzerland 4-0 in their third-place playoff clash at Beijing 2022 on Wednesday (16 February).

Switzerland would have been disappointed being one goal down after dominating possession with 13 shots on goal compared to the five by the Finns.

But it was Swiss goaltender Andrea Braendli who gave a good account of herself dealing with a flurry of Finnish shots on goal, making 12 saves in the opening stanza.

The Finns broke the stalemate at 11:38 when Viivi Vainikka found the back of the net to give them the advantage.

Turning the knife

Bolstered by their one-goal advantage, Finland turned the screws in the second period launching a relentless assault.

Braendli earned her keep blocking 21 shots that came her way to ensure the period remained goalless ensuring her team remained in the game.

Momentum swung decisively in Finland’s favour when Susanna Tapani doubled the scores at 43:24 despite the Finns serving a two-minute penalty for too many players on the ice.

Finland turned the knife 10 minutes later to remove any doubt of who the winners would be when Nelli Laitinen and Michelle Karvinen added their names to the scoresheet just five minutes apart (4-0).

Finland has now finished third at four Olympic Winter Games since the inaugural women's tournament at Nagano 1998. They were the first country to win the women's ice hockey bronze medal with a 4-1 win over the People's Republic of China and did it again at Vancouver 2010, beating Sweden 3-2 in overtime. The Finns won back-to-back bronze medals in Beijing 2022 after coming out on top in the third-place playoff match four years ago.