In the spirit of the Olympic movement and the nature of the competition itself, Team Yellow’s victory was shared by 13 different nations, each of whom had a player competing on the team.
This was a really great experience and I will never forget this,” said goaltender Nubya-Ayleen Aeschlimann of Switzerland. “It’s really unreal [to win the gold medal]. It was so great to play with these players from other countries. It was so cool.”
The Yellow Stars’ victory upset the top-ranked Black Magic in a great defensive performance that limited their opponent to just one goal in the opening period. After Russia’s Daria Petrova scored three minutes into the game the guns fell silent for Team Black the rest of the way, as the goaltending duo of Aeshlimann and Austria’s Magdalena Luggin combined to stop 35 of 36 shots.
Petrova’s goal was answered quickly by Leonie Bottcher of Germany, who collected a second score off a great wrister that went off the cross-bar and in as the Stars scored 6 unanswered goals in the second period to put the game out of reach.
“It’s the first time ever, so it’s pretty special that’s for sure!” said Mexico’s Luisa Wilson after the game. “It’s gonna be great because more kids are going to see it and will want to play hockey because they will see that it’s possible to compete at the Olympic level.”
Wilson made sure to point out that her winning gold as a Mexican ice hockey player with the Yellow stars was a blessing, both for her and for ice hockey in Mexico.
“Ice hockey is not a common sport in Mexico, but if kids see that it’s possible to go to the Olympics then this might open their eyes to hockey and try it out.”
Throughout the game the team was visibly together, both on the ice and off. The players acknowledged that the togetherness of the group was impressive, considering they had all only just met for the first time just a week ago.
“These girls are gonna be my friends for the rest of my life,” said Wilson, who can now lay claim to owning Mexico’s first ever medal in ice hockey. “I’m glad I got together with this team, because these girls showed me that if we can work together we can get to the finals, and we won!”
“We are a team that supported each other,” said Team Yellow forward Ludmilla Bourcet of France. “It was a team that didn’t give up easily and had a lot of spirit, and that’s what got us to a medal.”
“At one point is was too close for comfort,” said Team Blue forward Mirren Foy of Great Britain. “It was amazing but I’m going to miss these girls so much now! I love them all!”
Foy and her linemates, Sidre Ozer of Turkey and Maria Runevska of Bulgaria, potted two goals in less than one minute on their first shift together to jump out to the early lead. Regina Metzler of Hungary and Anna Kot of Poland added one marker each to close out the period.
The medal was especially special for girls like Turkey’s Sidre Ozer, who became the first-ever Turkish ice hockey player to win an Olympic medal.
“I’m the first? My mom is gonna be so happy (laughs),” said Ozer.
As a perfect example to the special nature of this mixed tournament, after her interview Ozer went immediately to hug her teammate goaltender Yuna Kusama of Japan.
Even though the two can’t communicate completely, there were no words needed.
