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.

The Japanese thought otherwise, even though they didn’t win a game in two previous Olympics. In a rare moment of boastfulness last year, the Japanese players predicted they wouldn’t leave the Pyeongchang Games without a victory — because they were scheduled to face the Koreans in group play.