Womens hockey is often seen as a battle between two powerhouses: Canada and the United States. Anything less than gold for either nation is considered a disappointment. Yet for Switzerland, advancing to the semifinal might be a victory in itself. Switzerland got by Russia on Saturday in their quarter-final, winning 2-0. The Swiss, led by their goalie Florence Schelling, will face Canada in the second semifinal on Monday at 12 p.m. ET, streaming live at cbc.ca/olympics. The United States plays Sweden in the earlier semifinal at 7:30 a.m ET after the Swedes beat Finland in a hard-fought quarter-final. Of course, the odds are heavily stacked in favour of the Canadians. Canada and Switzerland have met twice in womens Olympic ice hockey, with Canada winning both meetings. Their most recent Olympic encounter was their opening game in Sochi, in which Canada won 5-0. Their other Olympic match took place in a group match at Vancouver 2010, in which Canada routed the Swiss 10-1, with nine different players scoring. To make matters worse for the Swiss, theyre facing a Canadian squad that looks stronger than ever. History is not on Switzerlands side: Canada has not lost a match in Olympic womens hockey since Nagano 1998, winning its last 18 games. Canada has now won the gold medal in each of the previous three Olympic Games. Despite the overwhelming odds against them, the Swiss have reasons to feel good about their Sochi experience: Switzerland is guaranteed its best finish ever in womens Olympic hockey. Its previous best result was a fifth-place finish in Vancouver. Switzerlands head coach, René Kammerer, is feeling tremendous pride in his teams performance in Sochi. "I am so proud of the staff and the players. They have all put so much hard work in to this," Kammerer said. "We put up so much fight throughout that match and the goaltending and all of the teams performance was great."Kammerer added that he felt his teams good preparation ended up helping the Swiss do better this time around. "We had good preparation going into this game, especially about how to handle the noise from the home fans. We will enjoy this victory but we cant just simply tell our girls to win the next match. Plan A is to win and then we are guaranteed at least a silver. "I hope people know how dangerous we are now." Drew Pomeranz Brewers Jersey . They know how difficult it is to beat the San Antonio Spurs. George scored 28 points and Indiana defeated San Antonio 111-100 on Saturday night, snapping an 11-game skid against the Spurs. Teddy Higuera Brewers Jersey . "If we could score a six in every game, obviously I would be pretty excited," Jones said. "Its a long week but a short week. Its a pretty short round robin from what were used to so you dont want to get behind the eight ball early. https://www.cheapbrewers.com/1359y-trey-...ey-brewers.html. He made the comment at a media availability Saturday prior to Game 2 of the Boston-Montreal playoff series when a Quebec reporter said there is sentiment in Quebec that the NHL looks more favourably on Seattle than Quebec City when it comes to future expansion. Taylor Williams Jersey . -- Oakland Athletics third baseman Scott Sizemore has undergone surgery on his left knee to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Freddy Peralta Brewers Jersey . Hamels threw seven sharp innings to earn his 100th career victory, Domonic Brown had a career-best five RBIs and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Cincinnati Reds 12-1 on Saturday night to end a four-game losing streak.LUBBOCK, Texas - An MRI taken Tuesday night shows hockey Hall of Famer Gordie Howe didnt have a large stroke this week, as the family had feared, his son said.In a text message to The Associated Press, Mark Howe said the test showed his father didnt have a big stroke on Monday. He couldnt immediately provide other details of the MRI, including whether hed sustained a minor stroke. He said the family planned to release a statement.Earlier Tuesday, the hockey players daughter, Cathy Purnell, said her father suffered a significant stroke on Monday, which would have been his third since late October. Howe was stable and a little bit alert Tuesday morning, and doctors at a Lubbock hospital where he was taken were scheduled to do additional tests, she said.Hes a fighter, Purnell said. The man is tough. He has this will to keep going, all things considered.The man known as Mr.dddddddddddd. Hockey set NHL marks with 801 goals and 1,850 points, mostly with the Detroit Red Wings, records later broken by Wayne Gretzky.Purnell said therapists who have been tending to Howe arrived at her house Monday morning and discovered him nonresponsive in bed. Howe remained that way until evening, when Purnell said he recognized family members once he became alert.Howe suffered what his children called a serious stroke in late October and another in early November. He has been staying at his daughters home in Lubbock.She said the family wants to get the 86-year-old Howe back to her house as soon as possible.It scares the daylight out of me, Purnell said, adding that she told him Monday night to stop pulling these games on me. He gave me a smile. His sense of humour is intact.___Jeff McMurray in Chicago contributed to this report. ' ' '