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Two teams of varying degrees of talent meet with a spot in the women’s hockey gold medal game at the 2026 Winter Olympics on the line, as Canada takes on Switzerland in the second semifinal on Monday.
Canada was once again a gold-medal favorite. With a veteran group led by Marie-Philip Poulin and Erin Ambrose, the five-time Olympic champions were hopeful to be a strong force in Italy. However, their chances of winning another gold medal took a hit when Poulin suffered an injury against Czechia in the group stage, leading to an embarrassing loss to the United States on Tuesday. Canada managed to score second place in Group A with a win over Finland on Thursday.
Then, in their quarterfinal matchup against Germany, the Canadians picked up a comfortable win to advance to the semis. Canada has played in every gold medal game since women’s hockey was introduced to the Olympics in 1998.
Switzerland might have finished at the bottom of Group A, but contrary to previous performances at the IIHF Women’s World Championships, the team actually won a game. That came last Friday, when the Swiss upended Czechia in a shootout.
They ended up meeting Finland for the second time in a week, with Switzerland needing to pull off an upset if they want to play in the Olympic semifinals for the third time in the nation’s history. They did just that. A valiant effort from goaltender Andrea Brandli, helping the Swiss come away with a 1-0 win, sending the team to the final four once again.
WOMEN’S HOCKEYSemifinals
United States vs. Sweden
When: Monday, February 16
Time: 3:10 p.m. ET
Where: Milano Santagiulia IHO (Milan, Italy)
Channel: USA Network