Sweden against Switzerland in the semi-final tomorrow. It is settled after Switzerland’s victory over Latvia with 6-1 (1-0, 2-0, 3-1) in the final quarter-final.

Switzerland has not impressed so far in the Championship, despite being undefeated before tonight’s match. In an even fight against Latvia, they showed their strength, especially in defense.

The first period did not have that many shots on goal, for either team. Switzerland could, however, score a breakaway goal to 1-0.

The match continued to be even in the second period, but Switzerland was definitely hungrier when they got the chances. After a Latvian mistake, Nico Scalvinoni scored 2-0 right away in the second period and Philipp Fankhauser scored on a backhand shot, five minutes later, to 3-0. Latvia was not without chances, but the focus was not there.

It was still a fight in the third period, without any great chances, for either team. Switzerland kept their lead and held their defense line together with goalkeeper Pascal Meier. Latvia continued to push but it did not pay off, instead Patrick Mendelin and Adrian Zimmerman punctured the match with a goal each.

Latvia scored a consolation goal by Arturs Jursevskis before Zimmerman scored the last goal in an empty goal and the match ended 6-1.

Full match statistics here.

Photo: Rasmus Tynander.