Zuchwil, SWITZERLAND -- Canada's National Under 22 team beat Switzerland twice this weekend as they prepare for the Christmas Cup tournament starting Christmas Day in Unna, Germany.

On Saturday, Canada blanked the Swiss team by the score of 5-0, wIth Tania Pinelli of Hamilton, ON getting the shutout by turning away 7 shots. Canada had 55 shots on the Swiss goaltender, with goals from Tammy Lee Shewchuk of Saint-Laurent, QC, Dana Antal of Esterhazy, SK, Corinne Swirsky of Thompson, MB, Kelly Béchard of Sedley, SK and Alison Stewart of Pense, SK. Olympic silver medalist Jennifer Botterill of Winnipeg, MB added two assists for Canada.

"It was a tremendous team effort for 60 minutes", said Canada's head coach Melody Davidson, "we created great pressure in the offensive zone and had excellent support defensively."

On Sunday, Swirsky had two goals and Caroline Ouellette of Montreal, QC had three assists to lead Canada to a 6-1 victory over the Swiss.

Olympic silver medalist Hayley Wickenheiser of Calgary, AB opened the scoring 20 seconds into the second period, and Antal scored ten seconds later to give Canada a 2-0 lead

Botterill and Morag McPherson of Carberry, MB also scored for Canada.

"We definitely took the game to the next level tonight", said Canada's Antal.

"We played a disciplined game, especially with such a physical game as it was tonight", said Canadian assistant coach Wally Kozak.

Canada's next game is Christmas Day versus Germany, with Canada playing four games in five days against Switzerland and host Germany.

Canada is using these games to expose young players to the international game and to further evaluate the talent pool for the high performance teams and the Women's World Championships which will be held in Finland in March 8-14, 1999.