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7th July 2024 - Derek OBrien

Canada wins dramatic U16 final in OT

The U16 final between Canada and Slovakia was an emotional, back-and-forth affair that eventually saw Canada prevail 6-5 on an overtime goal by defenceman Radoslav Dimitrov. Canadian captain Jordan Flynn had two goals and an assist in the final.

Niké Arena 1

5-6 (OT)
(1:2, 3:2, 1:0 - 0:1)

Slovakia U16 - Canada U16

Penalties
3:6
PPG
2:0
SHG
0:0
Shots on goal
40:37

Goals and assists

10. Krajňák, 20. Al. Alföldy (Ad. Alföldy, Krajňák), 25. Karoľ (Kristl), 29. Cabúk (Ďurčo, Kovalčík), 33. Šromovský (ts) - 2. Flynn (Philpott), 14. Kirkpatrick, 21. Stewart (Philpott, Flynn), 28. Kirkpatrick (Snedden), 42. Flynn (Dimitrov, Stewart), 52. Dimitrov

Referees

Vilém Jonák, Vojtěch Filipiec

Official game sheet

Slovakia U16

Greguš - Michlík, Kovalčík, Podhorányi, Veselý, Biel, Cabúk (A), Košťál, Siakeľ - Alföldy Al., Ďurčo (C), Krajňák, 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)

The final began with a carnival-like atmosphere thanks in part to the noise from the Slovak fans, but they were temporarily silenced just 61 seconds in when Flynn opened the scoring for Canada. The Slovaks pushed back, though, and were rewarded with a goal by Róbert Krajňák exactly eight minutes later. After the Slovaks were unable to convert on a power play, Keilan Kirkpatrick came out of the penalty box and scored on a breakaway to regain Canada's lead late in the first period.

In the 19th minute, Canadian Blake Strain went off for slashing and Slovakia tied it again, with Alex Alföldy finishing off a nice passing play. However, Nolan Stewart put Canada back in front just 22 seconds later, forcing the ball over the line in a scrum. Slovak coach Róbert Alföldy responded with a time-out. The Slovaks didn't score on a subsequent power play, but in the 25th minute, Kristl sent a beautiful pass in front of Canada's goal to Petr Karoľ, who gave Schaus no chance.
However, in the 28th minute, Kirkpatrick gave Canada the lead again, scoring his second goal of the game, after which Canadian Brady Snedden was penalized for taunting the Slovak bench during the celebration. During the power play, Ďurčo shot from the blue line, Schaus kicked the ball out front and Samuel Cabúk tied the score again 4-4. Late in the second period, Slovakia had to kill off a major penalty after Róbert Krajňák was called for butt-ending, but the Canadians didn't score.
Iin the 33rd minute, Tomáš Šromovský was awarded a penalty shot when he was slashed on a breakaway, and he converted to give the Slovaks their first lead of the game. There was still plenty more drama, as the Canadians pushed hard for the equalizer, especially when a couple of overlapping penalties gave them a 5-on-3 for 33 seconds. It didn't come then, but it did come in the 42nd minute, when Flynn found his way around the tangle of bodies in front of Greguš's net and and scored the last goal of regulation time.
The teams went back and forth in overtime for almost seven minutes, when Dimitrov finally sent a long shot from the blue line through a crowd and into the Slovak net for the golden goal.

COACHES´ REACTIONS

Róbert Alföldy (SVK): "What can I say... From the beginning of the tournament, we pursued our dream, playing excellent ball hockey, but penalties slowed down our momentum. They cost us a tremendous amount of energy, which we lacked at the end of the game. However, I must express my utmost respect for my team and tip my hat to the boys because they have shown world-class play from the very beginning. I believe that today, the worse team did not lose; the luckier team won."

Tyler Anderson (CAN): “It´s pretty incredible, we battled all tournament long and today we were rewarded with gold medals. It was about resiliency today, we scored, then we conceded, we got a penalty, then there were penalties against us, it was back and forth game till the end. In the first game we had 15 minutes off with not ideal effort, today we were in the whole game ready to play.”

Photogallery