There was something special in the Milan air for the Italian women’s hockey team.
Scattered across the terrain of northern Italy, the entire Italian Olympic team has put on a magical performance, one that is far exceeding expectations. Entering Saturday, Italy was tied with powerhouse Norway with 18 total medals. A whopping six of those medals have been gold. Even beyond the medal count, the Italian team has outperformed itself in sports where it has historically struggled.
In the women’s hockey tournament, that magic was on full display. Only qualifying for the tournament due to the country’s status as the host nation, Italy entered as the lowest ranked team. They had just one single previous appearance in their history — in 2006, when they last hosted the Winter Olympics.
Against all odds and buoyed by the support of their home fans, the Italian team stormed into the quarterfinals with a pair of victories over France and Japan. Their reward for that success? A match-up with a powerhouse Team USA.
"Those are the kind of games that you dream about, to be honest, playing the best of the best and trying to showcase what you can do,” Italian goalkeeper Gabriella Durante said. "It was so loud I could barely hear my own thoughts. The Italian fans are the best fans, and it was an honor to play for them and for my country.”
In the first period, the Italians held firm. Fueled by Durante’s formidable performance in goal, they gave up just a single goal and stayed well within touching distance of a mythical semifinal berth.
Later, when the game got away from them and they were eliminated with a 6-0 loss, the Italian team remained just as invigorated by their time in the tournament.
"We just played against the best team in the world hands down, and we competed for most of the game,” Durante said. “I want to say yes, we thought this was going to happen, but at the same time it’s still incredible that it came to fruition."
For a team that came into the Olympics overlooked and just a handful of months into the tenure of new head coach Eric Bouchard, a quarterfinal exit may have seemed beyond expectations. But the Italians had confidence in themselves and in each other — and they had the faith of the fans cheering them on.
"It’s been two amazing weeks for me, the best experience of my life,” forward Matilde Fantin said after the game. “Since the first day, we knew how good we were.”
While their Olympic run may be over, the future of the Italian women’s team looks brighter than ever. The magic will linger, young fans will be inspired, and the players who took the ice will forever remember that golden feeling.
“We believed in ourselves right from the start. We knew that we were going to shock the hockey world and that’s what we did,” Durante said. “Losing sucks, but just being at the Olympics, at the quarterfinals, is a dream come true. … The team doesn’t have any regrets about the way we played.”