Who will be champions of the PostFinance Women’s League?: SCB and ZSC promise playoff drama

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Is this the same final as last year or not? People may have different opinions about the decisive poster in the PostFinance Women’s League.

The fact is: Last year the ZSC Lions women became champions with three wins from five final matches against EV Bomo Thun. By the way, with maximum drama: Skylar Fontaine scored the ZSC title goal in the 47th second of extra time. This year the women from Zurich will face the women of SC Bern, who took over the women’s games from Thun last summer. A sign that the major clubs in Swiss ice hockey are starting to take an interest in women’s sport. The final between SCB and ZSC is an act of revenge, even if that is not the case on paper.

“Strengthened again this season”

Sinja Leemann (21, ZSC) and Estelle Duvin (27, SCB) are the two PostFinance top scorers of the finalists, Duvin of the entire competition – both were there last year and know their opponents well. Leemann says about the SCB: “They have strengthened themselves again this season, including with Lara Christen.” The national defender recently played for Langenthal, but previously played for the Zurich team for several years. “The Bernese women always put the disc on goal and that makes them extremely dangerous. They always have a player there who can distract with the stick. So we have to stop them early.”

Her counterpart Duvin mainly refers to Zurich’s experience: “Your squad is extremely broad. And they have a winning culture with countless titles.” To be precise, the ZSC Lions have won eight championships since 2011 (and three in previous years as a ranking) and ten cups since 2009.

However: The starting position has completely changed compared to twelve months ago, and not only due to the restart of the team from Bern. In the 2022/23 season, Zurich and Thun had more than twenty points ahead of the other teams in qualifying, this year the lead of the leading duo was only eight points. The PostFinance Women’s League has become more exciting. “It’s nice that the gap is getting smaller,” said ZSC and Nati striker Leemann. Even though this made life more difficult for their team, because: In the second half of the season, the HCAP girls from Ambrì suddenly made up ground on the number two from Zurich in third place. “Yes, it is certainly not that easy anymore. But it is great for women’s ice hockey that it is becoming more and more exciting.”

Hot semi-final series against Ambrì

The exciting thing is that the HCAP Girls even won the first match in Zurich 3-1 in the semi-finals of the play-offs. The decisive moment came in the 62nd minute of game 2: Alessia Bächler scored the “Z” for a 2-1 win, leveling the series. With this tailwind, ZSC suddenly clearly won the third and fourth games (5:2 and 3:0) last weekend.

The residents of the capital had even less to worry about the final place: the Mutziens are already undefeated in 18 matches – including the regular competition, play-offs and cup. They last lost at the beginning of December, of course against ZSC. The semi-final series against Neuchâtel went to the Bernese team with 3-0 wins and 10-2 goals. “Maybe we needed some time to acclimatize at the beginning of the season after moving from Thun,” recalls Duvin, who is from northern France. An impression that the table confirms: at the beginning of the season, the Zurich women were leaders for a long time before SCB started their winning streak and overtook them. «We have positive emotions and a lot of fighting spirit. I think this will also help us in our preparation for the play-off final.”

The Cup as a trendsetter?

Both finalists see the cup as an important moment of the season. In the supporting role there: EV Zug, who is known to dominate the second division at will and will certainly be directly involved in the title fight after promotion next season. While the ZSC Lions failed in the quarter-finals, Zug played their way to the final against Bern. The Mutziens won the penalty shootout and celebrated the first women’s title in the club’s history. Leemann from Zurich: “That certainly gave them a boost.” Which Duvin confirms.

By the way: for the second time in Swiss ice hockey history there is a play-off final between SCB and ZSC Lions. In 2012, Steve McCarthy made Zurich champions with a goal 2.5 seconds before the end of the match in the “Belle” (Game 7). Maximum drama, comparable to last year’s women’s final. What chapter is likely to be written in the next endgame in the coming days and weeks?

Source : Blick