A decade ago, Shin So-jung was a South Korean teenager starting in goal for her country’s women’s hockey team. Some days on the job were tougher than others; at times, Shin received pain-relieving injections in her back after lopsided losses, like the time Japan reeled off 107 shots against her and scored 29 goals. That is not a typo.
The South Koreans have made plenty of progress since then. Last February, at the Asian Winter Games, Shin and her teammates lost to Japan by 3-0. Given how far they have come, South Korea’s players came away from that game believing they were closer than ever to besting their biggest rival.