No matter what happens from here on out, the women's hockey history books will receive a bit of a rewrite.
While Czechia couldn't earn their first medal game berth at the Winter Olympics, Sweden was able to put themselves into their first Olympic medal game in twelve years and in position to earn their first medal in seventeen years (the team's last medal came in 2009 at the 3/4 Nations Cup).
And with their win, Sweden will be guaranteed their best finish at the Winter Olympics since 2014; a win in the semifinal round would ensure Sweden matches their best women's hockey result since 2006, when they made it to the gold medal game but lost to Canada.
With a medal on the line, we should see Sweden at their best.
But is it enough to beat a United States team that is playing its best hockey in years?
A dominant 6-0 scoreline saw the United States easily dispatch the host nation Italy. Despite an early effort from the Italians, the United States were eventually able to break the ice and pull away quickly, something that they've been able to do with relative ease throughout this tournament.
That said, Sweden does have the ability to keep pace with the United States. Behind the Americans, who scored twenty goals throughout the group stage (twenty-six total goals in the tournament), Sweden scored the most goals of the remaining nine teams; the Swedes scored eighteen goals in the group stage and twenty goals total. Though they haven't dominated the shot count as they did earlier in the tournament, Sweden has shown their ability to capitalize on their chances and score when needed.
The Swedes will keep things close, but I think the United States will pull away and make it to the gold medal game. It seems that the Americans are searching for redemption for their loss in the 2022 gold medal game, and they've been completing their quest in dominant fashion. We all know about their dominance of Canada in the Rivalry Series, but not much has fazed this American entry at the Winter Olympics.
Even then, it's not time yet to rule the Swedes out in the medal race; a long-established golden rule is that can happen in short tournaments like that of the Olympics. And even if Sweden loses in the semifinal, they'll likely end up playing for bronze against a Swiss team that only just won their second game of the tournament against a Finland side that recovered well from a norovirus outbreak.
Sweden has done well to improve on their past tournament struggles; their reward for doing so is two chances at their first Olympic medal in twenty years. It's a chance that Sweden has strived so long for; capitalizing on it could very well set the team on a true upward trajectory.