GANGNEUNG, Gangwon Province -- The joint Korean hockey team lost its final game at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics on Tuesday, falling to Sweden 6-1 in the seventh place match.
Korea did get its second goal of the tournament, a power play marker by forward Han Soo-jin on the team's first shot of the game in the first period, but fifth-ranked Sweden was simply too much for Korea to handle.
Korea finished dead last in the eight-team competition with the loss at Kwandong Hockey Centre in Gangneung.
This was a rematch of a preliminary round game from Feb. 12, when Sweden hammered Korea 8-0. The Korean players said they wanted to prove that the big loss was only a fluke and that they would not lose by such a huge margin again.
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Korean forward Han Soo-jin (R) celebrates her goal against Sweden with teammate Eom Su-yeon during the seventh place match in the women`s hockey tournament of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics on Tuesday. (Yonhap) |
But after keeping things close in the opening 20 minutes, the Korean players' legs gave out as Sweden scored twice in the first, once in the second and three times in the third.
Made up of 23 South Koreans and 12 North Koreans, the unified hockey team was the first of its kind for the Koreas in any sport at the Olympics.
Under rules set by the International Olympic Committee when forming the joint team, head coach Sarah Murray had to dress at least three North Korean players for each game. While the IOC bent the rules and let Korea have 35 players -- all other teams had 23 -- the actual game rosters of 22 remained unchanged.
Murray dressed four North Koreans in one game and used three players in all others.
The teams traded three goals in the back-and-forth opening period, with neither side able to maintain pressure for any sustained stretch.
Sweden got on the board first after killing off a five-on-three power play. At 5:50, Sabina Kuller beat goalie Shin So-jung high on the glove side with a slap shot on a two-on-one breakaway.
Following a Korean turnover, forward Choi Yu-jung did a poor job of backchecking on Kuller and was instead caught watching the puck carried by Fanny Rask on the opposite side.
But Korea tied the score just 31 seconds later on a power play goal by Han. Park Jong-ah took the puck from the high slot and faked making a wraparound attempt before feeding wide-open Han on the left wing. With goalie Minatsu Murase moving to her left and looking over her left shoulder, Han poked one home into the gaping net to Murase's right side.
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Korean forward Han Soo-jin (L) scores against Sweden during the seventh place match in the women`s hockey tournament of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics on Tuesday. (Yonhap) |
It was only Korea's second goal of the competition. Randi Heesoo Griffin had the first goal in a 4-1 loss to Japan last Wednesday.
Korea threatened to go ahead as Grace Lee hit the post from the top of the crease after stealing the puck deep in the Swedes' zone.
But it was Sweden that broke the deadlock, with a power play goal of its own at 19:37.
With Korea unable to clear the puck, Maja Nylen-Persson got it back at the right point and slid it over to Emmy Alasalmi on the left side for a hard slap shot. Shin lost the grip of her stick before the shot, which went over her blocker side.
Sweden was in control for most of the second period, and scored its third goal with 2:33 remaining in the frame, with Erika Grahm converting a Rask pass to complete a pretty tic-tac-toe play.
Sweden added two more goals in the final period. First, it was Annie Svedin on a high shot that had to be confirmed on a video review. The puck went off Shin's body and hit the top shelf before bouncing out of the net, but replays showed the puck had clearly crossed the goal line at 3:05.
Six minutes later, Shin let in a soft one by Rask from inside the right face-off circle, making it 5-1 for Sweden.
Shin's backup, Han Do-hee, made her first Olympic appearance in relief at 17:01 but was greeted with a goal by Lisa Johansson just 18 seconds later. (Yonhap)
