Switzerland's Rahel Enzler celebrates her second goal on Sweden in the IIHF Women's World Championship fifth-placed playoff game.
photo: © INTERNATIONAL ICE HOCKEY FEDERATION / ANDREA CARDIN
Switzerland secured fifth place at the 2025 IIHF Women’s World Championship after defeating Sweden 3-2 in Saturday morning’s placement game. Two goals from Rahel Enzler secured a come-from-behind verdict, with Lara Stalder also on target.
On the face of it, this entrée before the semi-finals might not seem the most important encounter of the tournament. Yet, for both Switzerland and Sweden there was plenty riding on it.
“We came from a losing streak, so we know it was going to be a hard battle,” said Enzler after the game. “But it felt really good at the end.
“We’re always a really motivated team and we wanted to finish this tournament on a good note.”
Sweden, meanwhile, believes it is getting back to the level expected from its women’s program. There was also a chance to salve some of the sting from Thursday’s narrow QF loss to Finland.
“I think we came back well [from the QF],” said Swedish goalscorer Linnea Johansson. “The day after was tough for everyone, we were all pretty empty after that game. We tried to come back and fight for this placement, it was important for us to move up in the ranking.
“But unfortunately we couldn’t make it and we’re not happy as we pack our bags and go home.”
Events of the past 10 days shaped the first period play. Switzerland saw more of the puck but was cautious going forward and struggled to create good looks at Emma Soderberg’s net. A Stalder effort off the piping midway through the session was the closest we came to an early Swiss goal.
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Sweden, full of confidence, was more aggressive in its forward play and at times that threatened to boil over. We saw more than one bout of pushing and shoving on Saskia’s Maurer’s crease before the officials lost patience and assessed coincidental roughing penalties on Lisa Ruedi and Linnea Johansson.
While they sat in the penalty box, Sweden opened the scoring on 15:36. Ebba Hedqvist continued her breakout tournament with a fifth goal. The 18-year-old MoDo forward only found the net once in her two previous visits to the World Championship but is emerging as a real leader for the Damkronorna here. Today, she opened the scoring with a well-placed shot after evading the attentions of Alessia Baechler and Alina Marti on her way to the net.
But when Switzerland got its first power play of the game in the 18th minute, it needed just 11 seconds to tie the scores. Nicole Vallario won a puck battle on the boards, Stalder moved the play to Enzler and she picked her moment to thread a shot down a narrow shooting lane between a lunging defender and Soderberg’s far post.
That marker inspired Switzerland to bring more urgency to its offence in the second, but it was Sweden that regained the lead midway through the session. This time, the Swedish power play showed its stuff with Linnea Johansson crashing home a rocket of a one-timer after her first effort was deflected wide.
Once again, though, Switzerland got back level, this time with a goal born of the team’s most experienced campaigners. Alina Muller drove into the Swedish zone only to see her shot blocked. Enzler couldn’t force home the rebound, but the puck broke for Stalder to tap into an empty net. After a frustrating tournament, disrupted by an illness that forced her to miss two games, the captain’s celebration was heartfelt.
The Swiss were good value for that goal after an improved attacking performance in the middle frame. And, three seconds before the intermission, they got ahead for the first time in the tournament. Once again, Muller was the architect, carrying the puck from deep to test Soderberg with another shot. The goalie padded it away, but it went straight to Enzler for her second of the game.
“We knew that time was running out, and we heard the bench yelling: ‘Time, time!’,” Enzler said of the winner. “It was a perfect shot from Alina Muller. I kind of saw that she was shooting for the rebound. So it was a perfect position for me, and then an open net.”
Swedish heads visibly dropped as they went to the intermission, but Ulf Lundberg found the words to get his team back in the game for the third period. Maurer was kept busy in the Swiss net, with a notable stop to deny Lina Ljungblom’s three-on-one break. That was typical of a resilient performance that brought 16 saves in the final stanza to secure the win.
“[Saskia Maurer] was huge for us,” added Enzler. “She kept us in the game with really good saves. That’s a huge part of why we won this game.”
On the face of it, this entrée before the semi-finals might not seem the most important encounter of the tournament. Yet, for both Switzerland and Sweden there was plenty riding on it.
The Swiss had one last chance to get a victory in Ceske Budejovice after a disappointing group stage campaign. In particular, they were anxious to end a goal drought that had seen them find the net just once in five games thus far.
“We came from a losing streak, so we know it was going to be a hard battle,” said Enzler after the game. “But it felt really good at the end.
“We’re always a really motivated team and we wanted to finish this tournament on a good note.”
Sweden, meanwhile, believes it is getting back to the level expected from its women’s program. There was also a chance to salve some of the sting from Thursday’s narrow QF loss to Finland.
“I think we came back well [from the QF],” said Swedish goalscorer Linnea Johansson. “The day after was tough for everyone, we were all pretty empty after that game. We tried to come back and fight for this placement, it was important for us to move up in the ranking.
“But unfortunately we couldn’t make it and we’re not happy as we pack our bags and go home.”
Events of the past 10 days shaped the first period play. Switzerland saw more of the puck but was cautious going forward and struggled to create good looks at Emma Soderberg’s net. A Stalder effort off the piping midway through the session was the closest we came to an early Swiss goal.
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SWITZERLAND V. SWEDEN
GAME HIGHLIGHTS | CONDENSED GAME
Sweden, full of confidence, was more aggressive in its forward play and at times that threatened to boil over. We saw more than one bout of pushing and shoving on Saskia’s Maurer’s crease before the officials lost patience and assessed coincidental roughing penalties on Lisa Ruedi and Linnea Johansson.
While they sat in the penalty box, Sweden opened the scoring on 15:36. Ebba Hedqvist continued her breakout tournament with a fifth goal. The 18-year-old MoDo forward only found the net once in her two previous visits to the World Championship but is emerging as a real leader for the Damkronorna here. Today, she opened the scoring with a well-placed shot after evading the attentions of Alessia Baechler and Alina Marti on her way to the net.
But when Switzerland got its first power play of the game in the 18th minute, it needed just 11 seconds to tie the scores. Nicole Vallario won a puck battle on the boards, Stalder moved the play to Enzler and she picked her moment to thread a shot down a narrow shooting lane between a lunging defender and Soderberg’s far post.
That marker inspired Switzerland to bring more urgency to its offence in the second, but it was Sweden that regained the lead midway through the session. This time, the Swedish power play showed its stuff with Linnea Johansson crashing home a rocket of a one-timer after her first effort was deflected wide.
Once again, though, Switzerland got back level, this time with a goal born of the team’s most experienced campaigners. Alina Muller drove into the Swedish zone only to see her shot blocked. Enzler couldn’t force home the rebound, but the puck broke for Stalder to tap into an empty net. After a frustrating tournament, disrupted by an illness that forced her to miss two games, the captain’s celebration was heartfelt.
The Swiss were good value for that goal after an improved attacking performance in the middle frame. And, three seconds before the intermission, they got ahead for the first time in the tournament. Once again, Muller was the architect, carrying the puck from deep to test Soderberg with another shot. The goalie padded it away, but it went straight to Enzler for her second of the game.
“We knew that time was running out, and we heard the bench yelling: ‘Time, time!’,” Enzler said of the winner. “It was a perfect shot from Alina Muller. I kind of saw that she was shooting for the rebound. So it was a perfect position for me, and then an open net.”
Swedish heads visibly dropped as they went to the intermission, but Ulf Lundberg found the words to get his team back in the game for the third period. Maurer was kept busy in the Swiss net, with a notable stop to deny Lina Ljungblom’s three-on-one break. That was typical of a resilient performance that brought 16 saves in the final stanza to secure the win.
“[Saskia Maurer] was huge for us,” added Enzler. “She kept us in the game with really good saves. That’s a huge part of why we won this game.”