Slovakia U16 defeats Canada to secure place in final!

In a game between two previously unbeaten U16 teams, Slovakia edged Canada 5-4 to advance to the final, but Canada still has a shot to join them. Slovakia dominated the first period, with Tomáš Šromovský opening the scoring in the 7th minute. Exactly four minutes later, however, Canada's Brandon Philpott tied it. The game continued at a high pace, and Róbert Krajňák scored on a power play to restore Slovakia's lead. Philpott's second of the game two minutes into the second period tied it again, but the see-saw battle continued. In the 22nd minute, Sebastián Podhorányi but Slovakia back in front on a two-man advantage and the Canadians tied it again on a power play of their own three minutes later. Samuel Cabúk' beat Schaus in the 29th minute to make it 4-3 Slovakia after two periods. The third period was extremely emotional, and in the 35th minute, Radovan Kristl increased Slovakia's lead to 5-3. However, the Canadians again refused to quit, and Eric Ripka on the power play made it a one-goal game again with seven minutes remaining. The Canadians pressed hard for the equalizer the rest of the way but the Slovaks held on.

Niké Arena 1

5-4

(2:1, 2:2, 1:1)

Slovakia U16 - Canada U16

Penalties

6:6

PPG

2:2

SHG

0:0

Shots on goal

38:38

Goals and assists

7. Šromovský, 15. Krajňák, 22. Podhorányi (Krajňák), 29. Cabúk, 35. Kristl (Urmín) - 11. Philpott (Leitch, Stewart), 18. Philpott (Stewart, Flynn), 25. Snedden (Philpott, Flynn), 38. Ripka (Dimitrov, Saramak)

Referees

Vojtěch Filipiec, Vilém Jonák

Official game sheet

Slovakia U16

Greguš - Michlík, Kovalčík, Podhorányi, Veselý, Biel, Cabúk (A), Košťál, Siakeľ - Alföldy Al., Ďurčo (C), Krajňák (C), Martinka (A), Karoľ, Alföldy Ad., Čurlej, Foltín, Chudý, Kristl, Šromovský, Urmín, Šiška, Mitra

Canada U16

Schaus - Dimitrov (A), Earle, Reynard, Tymchak, Gill, Van Dam, Leitch, Hart - Philpott, Kirkpatrick, Saramak, Birkett, Snedden (A), Ripka, Stewart, Laskowski, Strain, Imperato, Straus, Flynn (C)

COACHES´ REACTIONS

Robert Alfoldy (SVK): "A fantastic victory, from start to finish it was an advertisement for world-class ball hockey. I think we had a great start to the game again, the boys calmed down, and we could play our game. Although Canada managed to catch up, we held on, avoided mistakes. From the goalie to the last player on the bench, it was a fantastic, self-sacrificing, team performance. Hats off to the boys for their hard work, but I remind you that we are not done yet, there are still important games ahead of us."

Tyler Anderson (CAN): "We wanted to have a fast start in the biggest game of the tournament, but we took 15 minutes off to start the game. When you do that, it comes back to hurt you most of the time. That’s what happened to us today."