The EVZ ice hockey women are promoted without a fight

The HC Ladies Lugano team will not be playing the promotion/relegation games. This means the way to the top league is now clear for the Zug team, who can look back on a perfect season.

The Swiss Ice Hockey Association announced on Tuesday that HC Ladies Lugano would not contest the league qualification against the EVZ after all. This after it seemed on Monday that the first match would take place today. Instead, the Ticino team decided on voluntary relegation. The EVZ women will now take their place in the top league, the PostFinance Women’s League.

It is entirely possible that HC Ladies Lugano will withdraw completely from the championship due to financial problems. It considered withdrawing a year ago, before the arrival of new sponsors made it possible to continue playing. Shortly before the start of the current season, however, the club president was arrested on suspicion of embezzling clubfunds.

A familiar picture from the last few months: The EVZ players celebrate a goal against overwhelmed opponents              
Trainer Daniela Diaz                          Photos Matthias Jurt

The Ticino team recently called for a fundraising campaign to cover the remaining costs until the end of the championship, and they played the last game of the relegation round of the top league with only two lines - three players were on loan from the Bassersdorf team.

The EVZ women won their last game 22-0
The Zurich women were EVZ's opponents in the SWHL B final series, which now represemts the last game of the current season. There remains one last impression that is emblematic of the dominance of the Zug team, which is made up of national players: the Zug women won the last final game 22-0. Not only was the result high, but also the number of fans at this game in the Bossard Arena: almost 1,500 fans were present - the second largest crowd ever recorded for a women's match in this country.

The EVZ coach Daniela Diaz can look back on a perfect season in the championship, with 25 wins in 25 games. They scored a total of 445 goals and only conceded 9. The highest win is a 33-0 in the cup against Thun, while the record in the championship was a 27-0 against Rapperswil-Jona. Captain Lara Stalder is the team's top scorer with 185 points (91 goals and 94 assists) - that's almost 8 points per game.

The Zug women also reached the cup final, which they unfortunately lost this against SC Bern 1:2 after a penalty shootout. This was the only defeat against a Swiss team in the current season. The EVZ also played in the European Cup, where it took third place. And they also played friendly games against international teams in order to be more challenged.

The withdrawal of the HC Ladies Lugano also means that the EVZ women have been deprived of a real chance to celebrate. The championship title was actually just a stopover on the way to the real goal – promotion to the top league. According to its own information, the club is still considering hosting a promotion celebration event.