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Russians look to future with 4-1 win
By Zack Van Eyck
Deseret News Olympic specialist
PROVO — The Russian women's hockey team is out of medal contention, but they still have plenty to play for — the future.
Not their own futures. The Russian leadership won't be that hard on them. But there was a certain desperation
with which the Russians approached Sunday's conso-lation-bracket semifinal against China.
The Russian government soon will consider legislation to provide more funding for some of the country's fledgling sports like soccer, American football and women's ice hockey. Coming home with anything less than a fifth-place finish could threaten that effort and thus the future of Russian women's ice hockey.
"If the law will pass, then we will have enough money from the government," said Russian coach Viacheslav Dolgushin. "If we get more money from sponsors, we will have better conditions, and we will be able to train our team better and compete in different competitions."
Russia trailed 1-0 after one period, but Dolgushin politely reminded his players between periods — well, maybe he wasn't so polite — that the folks back home wouldn't look kindly upon a seventh- or eighth-place finish, especially considering Russia won the bronze medal in last year's Women's World Championships.
The Russians responded with three unanswered goals in the second period and went on to defeat China 4-1 before a packed house at the Peaks Ice Arena. Ekaterina Pachkevitch scored a goal and assisted on another to lead the way.
The Russians will play for fifth place Tuesday. But will that be enough?
"I'm hoping that the fact that our team got in the Olympics will help the development of Russian hockey back home," said Tatiana Tsareva, who closed out the scoring with a power-play goal. "We did everything possible to help that."
The Chinese, too, were looking to build momentum from these Games. They finished fourth in '98. Only about 200 Chinese women play ice hockey, but coach Naifeng Yao vowed to expand the sport in his country over the next four years. China "must" have a team in the 2006 Games, he said.
Germany 4, Kazakhstan 0
At West Valley City, Maritta Becker scored her second and third goals of the Olympic tournament to help Germany (1-2-1) claim its first victory of the Games, over Kazakhstan (0-4). German goalie Stephanie Wartosch-Kurten made 26 saves to earn the shutout. Eighth-seeded Kazakhstan outshot seventh-seeded Germany 26-21.
The Germans advance to play fifth-seeded Russia in the fifth-place game Tuesday at 7 p.m. Kazakhstan will play sixth-seeded China for seventh place Tuesday at 2 p.m.; both at the Peaks.
E-MAIL: zman@desnews.com
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February 18, 2002
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