U18: Slovakia beats Germany but still are set for the Relegation Round

Canada proved from the very start that Norway would not be a big obstacle. They fired many shots on Søberg`s goal and easily got into the lead. They fired 20 shots on Norwegian goal in the first period.

"We were very strong in the first ten minutes and had many scoring chances early in the game," said Canadian forward Mark Scheifele who praised the Norwegian goalie Steffen Søberg. "Norway has some decent players and a very outstanding goalie. He catches 50 shots every game. We could have scored much more goals, but Søberg shut the door," added Schiefele, who scored two goals.

Norway worked hard but the difference was clear. The Scandinavians also looked a little tired after the close game against the Czechs on the day before. "We had too much respect at the start. We had a tight schedule lately," said Norwegian star Steffen Søberg who participated also in the U20 WC in Buffalo where we was the starting goalie in the first Norwegian victory in the U20 A Pool in two decades.


Vladimir Dolnik scores one of his two goals against Germany
Photo: Dominika Handzusova

Patrik Rybar drew his first shoot-out of the tournament and Matej Hindos had three assists, as Slovakia surprised Germany in front of more than 2000 fans. Despite the victory, Slovakia will play in the relegation round and now will cheer for Switzerland to beat Russia in Tuesday`s game which would mean, that Slovakia starts the relegation round with 3 points.

German goalie Cüpper did not enjoy his best 1st period. Both goals he allowed were easy and Slovakia gained more self confidence. Germany got the Slovaks under pressure in the 2nd period, but no goal came. "We played a very good game as well as against Switzerland, but this time we were able to score. We even scored twice in power-play," said Jozef Frühauf, the Slovakian coach. "Our players were probably tired after two very emotional games and did not play what we discussed before the game. We play often against Slovakia and those games are always close. Now we have to take some rest and get ready for the next game," said German coach Jim Setters.

Group A
Germany-Slovakia 0-4 (0-2, 0-2, 0-0)
Goals: 4. Mraz, 7. Mikus, 29. and 34. Dolnik

Group B
Canada-Norway 5-0 (3-0, 1-0, 1-0)
Goals: 1. Cousins, 8. and 30. Scheifele, 13. Smith, 52. Koekkoek

GROUP: Group A: (Crimmitschau)

#	Club	G	W	W-OT	D	L-OT	L	Score	P
1	USA	3	3	0	0	0	0	14:5	9
2	Russia	3	1	1	0	0	1	16:10	5
3	Germany	3	1	0	0	1	1	8:10	4
4	Switzerland	3	1	0	0	0	2	5:8	3
5	Slovakia	4	1	0	0	0	3	9:19	3

GROUP: Group B: (Dresden)

#	Club	G	W	W-OT	D	L-OT	L	Score	P
1	Canada	3	3	0	0	0	0	15:4	9
2	Sweden	3	2	0	0	0	1	16:6	6
3	Czech Republic	3	2	0	0	0	1	5:8	6
4	Finland	3	1	0	0	0	2	11:12	3
5	Norway	4	0	0	0	0	4	6:23	0

 

Advanced player search

Tweets by @eurohockey