Andrea Braendli was letter perfect in goal and Alina Muller's second-period goal stood up as the winner as Switzerland stunned Finland, 1-0, to advance to the semi-finals on Monday. They'll now have the daunting task of facing Canada, but it means they will also be playing for a medal on Thursday.

Braendli stopped all 40 shots she faced while her teammates mustered only 14 at Sanni Ahola.

"We had a really good feeling as a group," Muller said. "We've been in this situation quite a few times now. We just leaned on each other, and with Braendli in net we were confident. We know she has to play well for us to have a chance, and she did. It's unbelievable."

"It's amazing," added captain Lara Stalder. "I can't really realize yet what has happened. We're super happy that we have advanced and now we will be playing for a medal."

"Their goalie played well, and we weren't sharp enough in finishing off our chances at the net," offered a disconsolate Julia Liikola. "We've been struggling the whole tournament."

Although Finland dominated the opening period, teams went to the dressing room in a goalless tie, thanks mostly to Swiss goalie Braendli. The best chance for the Swiss came early, when Shannon Sigrist got off a nice shot from the slot, but Ahola was there to make the save.

After that, it was all Suomi. Elisa Holopainen in particular was dangerous in the Swiss end. She slid through the defence to go in on goal, but she pushed the puck just wide. Petra Nieminen got off a good shot from the off-wing, but Braendli got her shoulder on that one. Later, Holopainen again snapped a hard one-timer that was snared by the goalie once again.

In the second, it was mostly Finland, but they were being foiled time and again by Braendli. The Swiss had an early power play that was ineffective, after which the Finns had a 3-on-1 and didn’t even get a shot. But Braendli took a sure goal away from Susanna Tapani with a toe save, one of many fine saves.

Stalder also had a fine chance for the Swiss when she collected a high pass in centre and went in alone, but her shot was gloved by Ahola. Later in the period, however, the Swiss opened the scoring off a faceoff. Muller won the draw and went to the net. Stalder’s shot was blocked, but the puck came right to Muller who snapped a quick shot between Ahola’s pads at 14:17 for the huge goal. 

The third period was simply a highlight reel of great saves by Braendli. She made two great blocker saves off captain Michelle Karvinen but saved her best for last. Late in the game the Swiss incurred two penalties, and both Viivi Vainikka and Nelli Laitinen had chances from in tight. Braendli robbed them both, after which Laitinen slammed her stick on the ice in frustration. 

This will be the third time in four Olympics the Swiss will be playing for bronze. They won in 2014 and lost in 2022.