Hagman on fire as Sweden reach main round

Right wing Nathalie Hagman scored 19 goals for Sweden, helping her team to win their second straight game and progress to the main round. In turn, Puerto Rico still have no points after two matches. 

GROUP D
Sweden vs Puerto Rico 48:10 (26:5)

Hagman, who converted 19 of her 21 attempts, scored almost two times more than the entire Puerto Rico team. Overall, Sweden enjoyed an 84% shot efficiency compared to their opponents' 36 %. 

Puerto Rico's coach Camilo Estevez called for his first time-out already in the fifth minute. By that time, Sweden had already taken control of the game and led 4:1.

However, Estevez's instructions were of little help, as the difference between the sides was simply huge. The European team were very focused, they won the ball time after time and easily – like in a training – scored from fast breaks. 

While none of the Swedish players scored more than six goals in their opening game against Uzbekistan, this time Hagman netted 10 times already by minute 21, propelling Sweden to an 18:2 lead.

Puerto Rico were unable to score for 18 minutes before Adriana Cabrera finally ended this drought at 3:20. And although Swedish coach Tomas Axner started to rotate his squad, his team continued to tear the Puerto Rican defence apart. Even their goalkeeper Johanna Bundsen scored from the own half, helping Sweden to a 26:5 half-time lead. 

"I'm satisfied with the intensity of our defence. We tried to put more pressure on Puerto Rico and forced them to make technical fouls. Besides, we tried to run all the time and establish the tempo that we'll need in the next games," said Sweden's coach Tomas Axner. 

Not much changed after the restart, as Sweden continued to dominate. In the end, they scored 48 goals, two more than against Uzbekistan on Friday. 

While the Scandinavians are through, Puerto Rico, who conceded 103 goals in two matches, also retain a chance to advance to the main round – but they will need a win against Uzbekistan on Tuesday to reach that goal. 

hummel Player of the Match: Nathalie Hagman, Sweden

Photo: RFEBM / J. L. Recio