The Lionesses immediately knew what caused the Olympic project to fail - "It has been stuttering all the time"

MILANO.

The Women’s Lions collapsed in the Olympics prematurely. The team was expected to fight for bronze medals, but they faced elimination against Switzerland in the quarter-finals.

A major problem was scoring. The team scored only three goals in five matches. In as many as four matches, Finland was held scoreless.

– It feels pretty bad. Right now, there’s not much else but a big disappointment. This team deserved more, but we need to convert our chances into goals. That has been a struggle throughout the tournament. It feels pretty bad, said the star player of the Women’s Lions, Ronja Savolainen, after the game.

– We scored three goals throughout the tournament. That’s not enough.

– We tried all kinds of different ways to find it. Sometimes it’s like that, said another star player of the Women’s Lions, Susanna Tapani.

Head coach Tero Lehterä received absolution from Tapani.

– I think we have done well in all the tournaments with Tero so far. He has brought a lot of new good things to our playing system and other aspects. I don’t know why we couldn’t showcase them in this tournament.

Regarding the future of women’s hockey, Savolainen and Tapani had somewhat differing views. According to Savolainen, the future looks bright and new good young players are coming in. Tapani was not quite as optimistic.

– Well. If we look at the girls, the tournament didn’t go very well. We will certainly try to work hard. We need to get more players, Tapani said, referring to the under-18 Women’s Lions World Championships, where Finland historically dropped from the top division to Division 1.

The grant cuts are hitting women’s hockey hard, which is already living hand to mouth. According to Tapani, the setback is significant.

– It is certainly a big deal. We can’t play professionally anywhere else but in the PWHL. The grant is really significant at that point. Then we just need to get more players into the PWHL. It would be important for Finland to have a league where we could develop.

Jaakko Perttilä
X: @JaakkoPerttila