GB pulls off upset

With Kazakhstan beating Poland and Italy winning against Slovenia Hungary was playing Great Britain in a winner take all game for promotion to the A-Pool. Head coach Jarmo Tolvanen and his coaching staff stuck with Ádám Vay in net and Miklós Rajna as the backup. The defensive pairings stayed the same however Kóger and Magosi were switched. Sarauer was centering a line with Gergő Nagy and Magosi on his wings with Krisztián Nagy Between Benk and Kóger. Despite dressing today István Sofron was still injured.

For the opening faceoff Jarmo Tolvanen sent out János Vas with Chris Bodó and Vilmos Galló with Bence Stipsicz and Tamás Pozsgai on the back end. Hungary took an early 1-0 lead on a power play goal by Chris Bodó who put a rebound in off of an Andrew Sarauer shot. After killing the first penalty of the game Hungary had a chance as Erdély skated in on net, but the British goalie made the save. Pozsgai set up Magosi for a shot from the slot off of a backdoor pass. Vas, Erdély and Sebők all had chances later in the period but were unable to put the puck past the British netminder.

The first real scoring chance for Hungary was thanks to Bálint Magosi who had a shot from the left wing, on the other side Liam Kirk worked his way through the Hungarian defence but his shot ended up in the glove of Vay. In the 28th minute Sebők centered a pass but know one was there to put the puck in the net. In the closing minutes of the period Sebők setup Krisztián Nagy with a centering pass but Nagy could not get control of the puck to get a good shot off.

The third period started off with Sebők setting up Erdély, later Hári had a chance from behind the British net which ended up with him shooting the puck on net. The puck was deflected off of Erdély and into the back of the British net for the second Hungarian goal and the 2-0 lead. As the period kept on going Great Britain started to mount pressure onto the Hungarian net. With about ten minutes to go in the game Dowd jumped on a bouncing puck in front of the Hungarian net which ended up behind Vay to cut the Hungarian lead in half. With three and a half minutes to go in the game Hungary was awarded a penalty shot that Hári was unable to convert on. In the closing minutes of the game Great Britain pulled their goalie in an effort to tie the game up. Britain kept pressure on the Hungarian net, as the home team was unable to get the puck out of the zone, with 15 seconds left Farmer put the puck on net that squeaked through Vay for the tying goal.

After a scoreless overtime the game was decided in a shootout in which Great Britain came out on top and took home the gold medal after being promoted to Division 1/A the season before.

Schedule
HUNGARY-Kazakhstan 0-3
Italy-HUNGARY 2-3
Slovenia-HUNGARY 1-4
Poland-HUNGARY 2-3
HUNGARY-Great Britain 2-3 SO

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