Switzerland, Sweden advance in women´s hockey

SOCHI, Russia: Sweden and Switzerland advanced to the semifinals of the Olympic women´s hockey tournament, where they´ll meet a pair of teams that have dominated the Winter Games in Sochi — and everywhere else.
Sweden beat Finland 4-2 and will play the United States on Monday, and a 2-0 victory over Russia means Switzerland will face Canada.

The North American nations have won every Olympic gold medal and all except one silver, and they cruised through this year´s round-robin unbeaten until they faced each other (Canada won 3-2).

The Swiss were not exactly favored to get their first win of the tournament when facing the world championship bronze medalists on their home soil. But Florence Schelling stopped 41 shots, staying on the ice despite a collision that left her dizzy on her skates.

Anna Prugova made 27 saves for Russia, which moves to the classification round and can finish no better than fifth.

Sweden beat its Nordic neighbor in a rematch of the 2010 bronze medal match that Finland won in overtime. Emma Eliasson scored the game-winner in the latest entry of the rivalry, which may be best understood by hockey fans as the European version of the United States and Canada.

Anna Borgqvist, Lina Wester and Emma Nordin also scored for Sweden, and Valentina Wallner made 29 saves. Raty, who went 41-0-0 to lead the University of Minnesota to its second straight national championship last year, made 28 saves for Finland but she could not see Eliasson´s slapshot from the blue line that held up as the game-winner. (AP)