Nervy First Night for Unified Team

(ATR) There would be no storybook ending, no updated version of the famous "Miracle on Ice" nearly 40 years later. What played out was just a raucous women’s hockey game and a sense of hope of being part of something bigger than anything that could have happened in the Kwandong Ice Arena.

Switzerland forward Alina Muller scored three goals by the end of the first period. She added a fourth less than two minutes into the second.

Switzerland piled on eight goals in the end, holding the nervy unified team scoreless and home crowd without a chance to celebrate a potentially historic goal.

The first Unified Korean team to ever take part in Olympic competition was greeted by hoards of fans waving blue and white unification flags. The Korean team was supported inside the arena by over 100 North Korean cheerleaders, whose chants continued even as the score ran up.

"We have to win!" exclaimed Juyoung Park, a 22 year old South Korean, to Around the Rings before the game started. "It is the first time we’ve ever been here. It is very exciting because it is the first time [this happened] in the Olympics."

Meanwhile, Cho Yoon Park, 21, said she came to the game with "hope" that Korea could win, but knew that it was an unlikely outcome.

"We are interested in watching North Korean players playing we heard that they are good at attack so we are looking forward to watching this," Park said to ATR. "Many Koreans just like [the idea of the team]. There is no reason [for it]. We are happy so it is very good."

Throughout the game anytime a Korean player would skate out of their defensive zone, the cheerleaders’ voices would swell. The crowd cheered on a number of individual chances the unified team created throughout the night, but rarely was there any sustained pressure.

Whenever energy lulled, or Switzerland scored a goal the cheerleaders would chant "Keep it up!" in unison. The cheerleaders sang a number of pro-unification songs and chanted "We are one!"

Afterwards a number of Korean players said that they appreciated the constant energy from the crowd and were awed by the synchronized cheering at a hockey game.

South Korean President Moon Jae-In attended the landmark game, after watching South Korea win its first medal in short track speed skating. He watched the ice hockey game with IOC President Thomas Bach, North Korean head of state Kim Yong Nam, Kim Yo Jong the sister of North Korea’s leader, and PyeongChang 2018 President Hee Beom Lee.

Earlier that day Moon and Kim held a historic summit at the Presidential Blue House in Seoul. Kim Yo Jong presented Moon with a letter from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un urging to hold an inter-Korean summit at the "earliest date" possible in Pyongyang. The last summit held was in Pyongyang in 2007.

Moon urged his North Korean counterparts to restore dialogue with the United States, and was quoted as saying to Kim "let us make [the summit] happen by creating the necessary conditions in the future". Vice President Mike Pence led the United States delegation, but went out of its way to avoid communication with the high-ranking North Koreans.

South Korean forward Randi Heesoo Griffin said in the mixed zone after the game "we didn’t want to lose 8-0 today," and that there were a lot of long faces after the game.

The unified team stayed on the ice once it was complete, so Bach, Moon, and the North Korean delegation could speak with the team. Griffin said the moment was a "pep talk" of sorts, that reflected the feeling of the event being not "just a hockey game".

"We didn’t want to lose, so we’re not happy about that," Griffin said. "We need to tighten up our D-zone and simplify our game. They were a very fast team and we need to be getting better at respecting how skilled [other teams] are."

Anticipation for the game has dominated Korean media since the IOC decided last month to allow a unified team to compete. Questions have lingered over the chemistry of the team, which features all 23 skaters from the South Korean national team and 12 North Korean skaters. Per the IOC decision, team coach Sarah Murray was required to dress at least 3 North Koreans for each match. She chose to dress four North Koreans for the warm up game, although they received limited ice time.

Murray told reporters after the game she wished that the North Korean skaters had joined last July when rumors and preliminary discussions of a joint team started. She said that skaters from both North and South Korea are working hard to win, and she is getting no pushback on roster decisions.

At the end of the day Murray says the players in the locker room have integrated and are "just girls playing hockey".

"I think we had a tough game; I think we were nervous," Murray added. "We definitely didn’t play the systems as well as I wanted us to play and as well as I know we can play. We always tell the players after the game is done its done and we can’t change what happened so we’re learning from this experience, forgetting it and moving forward."

From the opening period, the unified team looked out of sorts, missing passes and even seeing players run into each other in their own zone. Switzerland dominated possession early, but Korea had a few isolated chances. Switzerland outshot Korea 52-8 reflecting the lopsided nature of the game.

Fans from Switzerland making the long journey were treated to a barrage of goals, but not a lot of skill, said Marco Wachter. He was one of a handful of Swiss fans to be caught up cheering for a team potentially damning a major diplomatic moment of the 2018 Winter Olympics. Cheering against a united Korean team on the Korean Peninsula was a little "strange" he said, but was happy to soak up the moment.

"We just came here and saw the crowd out on the streets, it is a special evening," Wachter said to ATR when the score was 3-0. "I don’t think [the Swiss] are playing that well, I think they could be much better."

Not all the South Korean fans could be deterred by the end result. Optimism before the game, gave way to pride and understanding as the Swiss piled on the goals. Jimyung Kim, 25, told ATR he was just trying to understand the rules of his first hockey game, while soaking in the moment.

"I know this is [against a good team] and this is Korea’s first game to play," Kim said. "So I am not disappointed about [the score]."

Written by Aaron Bauer

25 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.