The winner of Monday’s game between Italy and Japan will advance to the Olympic women’s hockey quarterfinals. For the hosts, it’s been their goal all along.
Italy earned their first ever women's hockey win at the Olympics in their opening game against France, but followed with a lopsided loss to Sweden.
With a key contest coming up against Team Japan, where the winner is likely punch their ticket to the quarterfinals, participating as hosts is not enough for Team Italy. The Italian roster has been building for years with the goal of earning a quarterfinal berth at the 2026 Olympics.
The loss to Sweden was an important test in that process, as Italy has not faced nations of Sweden's calibre before this event.
"I'm satisfied with the team's performance. We never gave up, showing grit and passion. There were long periods of struggle, but at times we also crushed them, so we can believe we can reach the top" said Italy's goal scorer Franziska Stocker in a translated comment. "They managed to display great technical skill, scoring goals of excellent quality, but this didn't dampen the support of the crowd, playing in front of such passionate fans is indescribable. We managed to fight until the end, thanks in part to their support."
"It was the toughest match we've played in recent years," said captain Nadia Mattivi. "Sweden is undoubtedly one of the best teams in the world right now. At times, we were on their level, but then a few mistakes allowed us to widen the score. You learn from situations like these."
While Stocker and Mattivi were please with Italy's effort against Sweden, neither want their achievements to end in the preliminary round.
Japan has an identical 1-1 record having also beat France. They also have scored an identical five goals for and allowed seven against. With Sweden and Germany looking like safe bets to advance, it leaves only one spot, for the winner of Italy and Japan's preliminary round game, in the quarterfinals.
"Qualification for the quarterfinals is still up for grabs," said Stocker. "We'll learn from this match against Sweden and come back even stronger."
"We have two more games to believe in to achieve our first objective," said Mattivi. "The match against Japan will likely be decisive. They will be a different opponent, more structured and less physically and technically advanced. However, I'm confident we'll be able to respond blow for blow."