Finland reach women´s ice hockey semis smashing Japan 7-1

Finland reached to semi-finals of the women´s ice hockey in 2022 Winter Olympics after beating Japan by seven goals to one in the quarterfinals in Wukesong Sports Centre in Beijing on Saturday.

Petra Nieminen scored a hat-trick while Viivi Vainikka, Michelle Karvinen, Susanna Tapani and Sanni Hakala scored one goal each to ensure the big victory for the Finns who will face USA in the semi-finals on Monday.

Akane Shiga scored the lone goal for Japan in the match completely dominated by the Finns.

Nieminen earned five points with three goals and two assists, while Karvinen, Tappani and Nelli Laitinen won three points each in the match.

Earlier, in the four previous matches, Finland beat Russia (ROC) and lost to USA, Canada and Switzerland.

In another quarterfinals Switzerland took down the Russia (ROC) 4-2 and will fight against Canada on Monday.

Meanwhile, the United States defeated Canada 4-2 for its second straight win in men's ice hockey, while China scored two historic goals before losing 3-2 to world No. 5 Germany at the Beijing Winter Olympics on Saturday, reported Xinhua.

The Canadians took just 1:24 to throw the puck into the net, but the Americans struck back with an equalizer at 2:34 before going up 3-1 early in the second period.

Canadian forward Corban Knight cut the deficit to 3-2 in the 35th minute, but American forward Kenny Agostino scored 12 minutes later to seal the victory.

"When we can combine a little bit of grit and heart, and when we have hard skill, and I thought we had hard skill tonight, we can be successful," said David Quinn, head coach of the American team.

The Germans scored two goals against China in the first period before extending their lead to 3-0 at 24:41.

China's forward Fu Shuai put the puck into the net in the last minute of the second period, the first ever goal for the Chinese men's team in the Olympic history, and forward Wang Taile scored again in the 49th minute.

"It's pretty crazy, and the whole team's efforts make it happen. It's a huge honor to score and I'll remember it for a long time. I think there are a lot of positives to take from tonight," Fu said.

In other games, the Czech Republic edged past the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) 6-5 in overtime, and Denmark beat Switzerland 5-3.