U20: Hungary takes third at Division 1/B World Championships

Hungary-Poland 2-4

With Slovenia beating Ukraine in the first game of the day, they had secured promotion to the A-Pool regardless of what Hungary played against Poland.  The winner of the game would finish in second place. Márton Vas and his coaching staff went with Dávid Kovács in net.

Poland had an early scoring chance on their third shift of the game, on the ensuing offensive possession Soltys got open in front of the net and scored off of a centering pass. On the first shift after the goal Mihály was taken out by Brynkus from behind, on the ensuing power play Hungary was unable to score. After the power play Hungary looked like the better team but they were just not able to put together a solid scoring chance. The second Hungarian power play was cut short as Hungary was called for slashing. Later in the period Hungary was putting Poland under pressure however it was the host nation that hit the pipe on a shot. Szalma came close to scoring for Hungary as the goalie lost track of the puck. In the closing minutes Poland was really pushing, Kovács made a number of saves to prevent Poland from scoring.

Early in the second period Hungary pinned Poland back into their own end. On their first power play of the period Hungary cycled the puck well and shots on net but the Polish goalie stood his ground. Just as Poland killed the penalty Olszewski used the Hungarian player as a screen to get a shot off that trickled through for the 2-0 lead. This was followed up by a Polish penalty on which Hungary had more shots on net than Poland. Roland Kiss came out of the penalty box and had a break away but the goalie saved the back handed shot. Hungary setup shop in the Polish end again with Papp and Mihály having shots on net but were not able to beat the goalie. Hungary had another power play and again moved the puck well but did not capitalize on the advantage. Things got chippy as Révész and Soltys exchanged punches, when the dust settled both players picked up 5+20 and Pas received 2+10 for a check to the head. Just as Poland killed the penalty Brynkus came on the second wave and beat Kovács on the blocker side. Hungary kept on battling as Donát Péter had a chance from up close. Late in the period Poland went up 4-0 off of a counter attack but Bálint Horváth answered this when Andor Péter sprang him for a breakaway score.

Hungary came out strong for the third period and had an early power play which they capitalized on when Papp weaved himself through the Polish defenders and had a shot from the slot. As the period went on Poland could not come out of there end for minutes at a time or would get it out and go for a change. At just about the midway point of the game Hungary killed a penalty and even forced the Polish goalie to make a save. Hungary took back the control of the pace of the game however Walega did have a breakaway that Kovács saved. Later in the period Bálint Horváth had a breakaway chance but the goalie stuffed him and the rebound as well. Hungary had a late penalty that Poland did not score on thanks to a number of saves by Kovács. With just over two minutes left in the game it looked as if Ákos Mihály had scored a power play goal but the referee had waved it off and the score remained 4-2. With 1:25 left in the game Hungary called timeout and ten seconds later Kovács game off for the extra attacker. With 32 seconds left in the game Poland also called timeout. In the end Poland held on to the win and finished in second place. The player of the game for Hungary was Roland Kiss and the best Hungarian of the tournament was Hunor Császár

Line up against Poland
Péter A., Horváth B., Péter D.
Szalma, Papp, Mihály
Révész, Császár, Madácsi
Kovács A., Kreisz, Dézsi
Vértes.

Sándor, Fejes
Kiss, Vas
Bugár, Seregély
Horváth M.

Kovács D. (Szeles)

World Championships Schedule
HUNGARY-Japan 3-1
HUNGARY-Ukraine 9-3
HUNGARY-Italy 6-2
HUNGARY-Slovenia 4-5 SO
HUNGARY-Poland 2-4

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