Lulea remains the powerhouse program in European women’s hockey, and they punched their ticket to the SDHL semi-finals in search of their seventh straight title.
Lulea swept their SDHL quarterfinal 3-0 over Skellefteå. It looked as though the quarterfinal series would be prolonged after Skellefteå jumped out to a 3-1 lead in game three of their series before Lulea stormed back riding Europe’s top stars.
Skellefteå’s Ida Kuoppala tallied her third of the playoffs to open the scoring before Lulea and Viivi Vainikka responded just over a minute later. Halfway through the second frame, Skellefteå took the lead and then extended it on a pair of quick goals from Vilma Granlund and Ronja Mogren.
SDHL regular season scoring champion Petra Nieminen drove wide and roofed a puck over Skellefteå keeper Camryn Drever to make it 3-2 before teammate Jaycee Magwood redirected a Nadia Mattivi pass past Drever to tie the game at 3-3. Magwood scored again in the third period off a perfect pass from Vainikka to give Luleå the lead, and the eventual win, 4-3.
Skellefteå’s season is over, but they can hold their heads high after a strong showing in their inaugural SDHL campaign. Luleå, for their part, will be tough to beat in the coming rounds. Their embarassment of riches, including Nieminen, Vainikka, Magwood, Mattivi, Emma Nordin, Johanna Fällman, Sarah Bujold, Jenni Hiirikoski, Akane Shiga, Erica Reider, Savannah Norcross, et al. has barely shifted into high gear.
