The EVZ ice hockey women are in a class of their own

The EVZ women’s ice hockey team had two away games in the Women's League last week. They had a debutant in the goal for the 2-5 away win in Davos last Thursday, and rolled over HC Ambri-Piotta with a 1-8 away win on Saturday.
 

The Zug women clearly felt at home in the Davos ice rink. Having already won all five previous games there, they prevailed again on Thursday, winning by 2-5.

And the first EVZ goal was a special one in the history of the newly founded women's team: it was the 600th goal in the 64th championship match (including playoffs), and was scored by Noemi Neubauerová shortly after the halfway point of the game (31^st minute, score 1:1). The energetic Czech player powered through on the right side after a magnificent pass, and scored with confidence. This means that on average, the EVZ women have been scoring 9.375 goals per match!

Less than two minutes later, top scorer Rahel Enzler added another goal, and Lara Stalder had also hit the post between the goals. The women from Graubünden were completely overwhelmed during these minutes. This was surprising, as they had started strongly in the second period and caused problems for Zug with their forechecking.

Yara Keller impressed on her debut
The fact that Davos had taken the lead in the first period was just as surprising, however, when Lucia Haluskova beat Zug's new goalkeeper, Yara Keller. The 19-year-old from Lucerne, who gained experience in the men's second division last season, was making her competitive debut for the EVZ.

She had a lot to do by Zug standards, and even conceded a second goal in the third period, to make it 2-3 (Alina Marti had previously scored for HC Davos). The goalkeeper then prevented an equaliser – as the visitors were erratic at the back. Luisa Waser restored the necessary calm to Zug's game with the fourth goal (45th minute), and Chiara Eggli shot into the empty net in the last minute of the game to make it 2-5.

The team before the match in Davos
Yara Keller makes her debut in the EVZ goal
Start of the game in Ambri                             Photos: EVZ
Annika Fazokas (in blue) also scored a goal against Ambri    Photo: Boris Bürgisser
 

Seven different players scored in Ticino
The EVZ Women faced HC Ambri-Piotta in Biasca on Saturday. Ambri had won Thursday's game of the round against the ZSC Lions 4-2 and were two points behind Zug in the table
But if there was anything to complain about that evening, it was the fact that EVZ didn’t win by double digits.

The leaders' match against second-placed Ambri-Piotta was a demonstration of power, with a shot ratio at the end of the match being 50:26 in favour of the Zug women. The 8:1 result was therefore somewhat flattering for Ambri.

With the exception of Alina Marti, no player scored twice. Chiara Eggli, Annika Fazokas, Lara Stalder, Annic Danielle Büchi, Rahel Enzler and Ivana Wey scored the other goals. The situation surrounding the second goal illustrated just how strong the Zug women's confidence is at the moment: Chiara Eggli ran towards the goal from the right, while her teammate Lara Stalder rushed in from the left. Instead of passing to her, Chiara Eggli, who is from Oberägeri, positioned the puck and shot it under the crossbar.

The match was also a reunion with her former teammates for Lena-Marie Lutz. The national team striker didn’t receive a new contract in Zug after last season. She moved through the Gotthard Tunnel in the summer, where she is currently the top scorer., Only the EVZ players Rahel Enzler and Lara Stalder are ahead of her in the league.

Two home games at the weekend
Six games, six wins – who can stop the EVZ women?
After six rounds, the Zug women are already five points ahead of the second place team in the league table. Perhaps coach Daniela Diaz's announcement had an additional motivating effect on the team: the players have Thursday off.

They have two home games within 21 hours next weekend – on Saturday against bottom-of-the-table SC Langenthal (at 5.30 pm) and on Sunday against fifth-placed HC Fribourg (at 2.30 pm).

Provided the Zug women do not become complacent, these opponents should be no match for them. And don’t forget -entry to home games is free for under-18s and over-65s. So come and cheer on the girls.