Olympics: Japan's ice hockey medal bid ends in loss to Finland

Japan's bid for a maiden ice hockey medal at the Beijing Winter Games came crashing to an end Saturday with a 7-1 women's quarterfinal loss to world No. 2 Finland.Goaltender Nana Fujimoto did her best to keep Japan in the game with 35 saves, but the world No. 6 side could not contain a fast and physical Finnish outfit led by forward Petra Nieminen, who had a hat-trick and two assists.Akane Shiga got on the board with a well-taken goal to cut the deficit to 2-1 late in the first period at Wukesong Sports Centre, but Japan otherwise posed little threat to the stout Finnish defense.Finland str…READ FULL ARTICLE