Croatia beats biggest opponent, Serbia and Belgium win

Belgium - Iceland 4:1 (2:0, 1:1, 1:0)

Fifteen seconds into the second period, Don Geerts saw his game-winning goal for Belgium, who put a dot on a superb show put on against Iceland. Top of the cream, 4:1 victory, that could help them avoid relegation at the end of the tournament. Solid performance by the Belgians and a deserved win at the end.

At 11:25 Vercamen opens the scoring, after Morgan set the whole thing up and the Belgians take the lead. They continue to put pressure, and with a man up on the ice double the lead at 17:11 through Raekelboom. Midway through the second Iceland get hopes back as they score to reduce the lead, Alengaard the scorer. Not for long, five minutes later, Morgan snaps a shot to make it 3:1.

Croatia - Australia 3:1 (1:1, 1:0, 1:0)

A hard fought win for Croatia, who in the end prove to be more quality and more balanced team. In front of a crowd of 2,500 at Ledena dvorana in Zagreb, the host nation snapped a win against their biggest opponent for the gold medal. Croats were shocked by the performance Australians gave and as a result, two minutes into the game Australia got the game's first lead. Corstens got everything set, passed the puck to Darge who was alone in front of the goal, and tipped it in.

"We lost our energy in the first period, but we battled back pretty hard. It was important to get the early goal, we got tired later on and couldn't keep up", the lone scorer for Australia was a bit disappointed after the game.

At 13:32 Rendulić and Blagus set the puck up for Dominik Kanaet who ties the game with a one-timer. Australians were late for the start of the second period and received a team penalty for that. "The Giant of Lika", Joel Prpić had a big return to his home crowd, as he used to play for Medveščak, and scored a powerplay goal with 1:30 past in the second. He was only too happy to score again here.

"This relives old memories of my good friends, getting to play in front of this great crowd here is amazing. We played very well, we sticked to our game plan, didn't give them many opportunities. We really dominated the game, their goalie was phenomenal. We were a bit stunned after their early goal, but we deserved a win in the end", Joel didn't hide his happines after the game.

Australians were a bit tougher throughout the first period, with a very phisical game, though Croats fought back in the second and deservedly took the lead. Another comeback goal in the third period, ex-Bear John Hečimović scores on a powerplay at 56:59 to ensure the victory and give Croatian fans a reason to celebrate.

After the game, Joel Prpić admitted that he hopes for the gold medal: "This is our tournament, in our country and the gold medal is what we came for!"

Spain - Serbia 3:4 (1:1, 1:1, 1:2)

A goal in each period wasn't enough for the Spaniards tonight. Serbs managed to get two in the last and win a game nobody thought they could. Not even them.

Spain opened the scoring on a powerplay. A solid offensive performance put Boronat in a goal-scoring opportunity and he didn't hesitate to put the puck behind the line. Four minutes later Sretović ties the game also on powerplay. In the middle period, three minutes before the second intermission, Serbia scores a huge goal to take the lead, Brkušanin was the lucky scorer. With the momentum on their side, Marko Ilić makes a stupid mistake ten seconds later, before his goal while Spain is awarded a penalty shot. Garcia-Aras takes the puck directly at the goal and puts it nicely in the upper right corner.

Two quick goals assured Serbia the win, at 46:24 Janković scores to take another lead, and then at 49:09 Despotović doubles up, 4:2 Serbia. Ten minutes prior to the end, Boronat reduces, but they can't tie it once again. Serbs in the end celebrated a victory, and they celebrated as if they had won the tournament. Big win for them in the struggle to avoid being relegated.

"This was the best performance for our national team in the last couple of years. We set our gameplan and transmitted it onto the ice. Our biggest problem are penalties and when we discpline ourselves, we can match up against any opponent", Marko Milovanović summarized the game.

The Championship continues Monday with another three games on the schedule:

13:00 Australia - Iceland

16:30 Serbia - Belgium

20:15 Croatia - Spain (all times are CET)

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