Women's Team in Sweden: The NXT chapter has begun

The EVZ Women’s Team has kicked off their pre-season preparations with high ambitions and a breath of fresh air in the squad. The new team of captains has been selected – and this week sees the Karlstad Puck Drop in Sweden.

The EVZ Women’s Team is embarking on the 2026/27 season with the ‘NXT Chapter’ mission. Having secured the Swiss league title and the cup victory last spring, the team aims to add another chapter to its success story. “We want to defend both titles,” says Head Coach Daniela Diaz. The recipe for success remains the same: “We’re approaching this challenge with humility and hard work.”

The squad features several new faces. Defender Mara Frey (from the ZSC Lions) and forwards Emma Lintner (Stanstead/CAHS), Millie Rose Sirum (Skellefteå AIK) and Mira Seregély (HK Budapest) have joined the team. The new signings bring international experience and fresh impetus to the team. Daniela Diaz says: “The new players are changing the team dynamics and creating new points of interest.”

There have also been some slight changes to the captaincy team. Lara Stalder remains captain and is now assisted by her five team-mates: Annika Fazokas, Alina Marti, Nina Harju, Chiara Pfosi and Luisa Waser.

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International Preparation

Supporting young talent remains a key priority. The newly launched ‘EVZ Women’s NXT’ programme is designed to introduce talented players to the first team in a targeted manner. Joy Roulet, Simone Ambauen, Lara Klaus and Neela Brander train regularly with the first team and aim to earn further appearances in the PostFinance Women’s League through strong performances.

The Zug side have already played their first friendly match. In Davos, they lost 1–4 to the Swedish runners-up, Frölunda HC. Despite the defeat, coach Diaz saw many positives: “The aim was to take a big step forward in our development process and take away a lot of lessons for the future. We managed that very well – and the final period in particular was strong. We’re satisfied, have learnt a lot and are already looking forward to the next matches.”

These are coming up as early as Friday and Saturday. At the inaugural ‘Karlstad Puck Drop’, EVZ will face their partner club Färjestad BK on 28 August and Swedish champions Brynäs IF on 29 August. The tournament in Sweden runs from Wednesday to Sunday and also serves as a team-building exercise.

The trip to face the German champions, ECDC Memmingen Indians, on 5 September will bring the pre-season to a close. “The matches against top international teams are a new and very exciting opportunity for us to assess where we stand,” says Daniela Diaz.

The league campaign for the EVZ Women’s Team then begins on 12 September in Neuchâtel. Due to the refurbishment of the OYM Hall, the first seven matches will be played away from home. The first home match takes place on 24 October against the strong newly promoted side, HC Lausanne.