36th win: Austria prevail 2:0 against Hungary
In the 51st meeting overall between Austria and Hungary, Head Coach Roger Bader's team prevailed 2:0 in Kapfenberg on Thursday evening, thanks to goals from Lucas Thaler (5th minute) and Tim Harnisch (46th minute). Austria were clearly the better team throughout the full 60 minutes and, in the final period, kept a clean sheet thanks to goaltender Alexander Schmidt, who made several outstanding saves while shorthanded and was named Best Player. They will face each other again in Kapfenberg on Friday at 18:30, live on ORF Sport+.
2 min read
A successful start to the December Break: The well over 500 fans at Kapfenberg Ice Rink saw a red-white-red team that was clearly superior in skating, technical and tactical terms, giving Hungary little room, putting them under pressure with relentless forechecking and forcing errors. Once Austria had the puck on their sticks, they were almost impossible to dispossess.
It took only a few minutes for Lucas Thaler to finish off Austria's first dangerous attack and make it 1:0. Hungary then had goaltender Beni Halasz to thank on several occasions for being only 0:1 behind after the first period.
The fans were treated to an unchanged picture in the second period. Austria pushed for 2:0 and repeatedly brought the puck dangerously in front of the Hungarian goal.
In the 23rd minute, Austria's neighbours initially created their first real chance, with Alexander Schmidt making his first notable save. The Villach native was starting on the ice for the fourth time overall in his national team career and was able to celebrate his third win at the end. He played a major part in it.
After Tim Harnisch scored the long-overdue 2:0 on the power play following an assist from Lucas Thaler, Austria then had to survive four minutes shorthanded. Lukas Bär was first sent to the penalty box. Hungary created several excellent scoring chances for the first time, all of which were denied by Alexander Schmidt. No sooner had Bär returned to the ice than Michael Kernberger was penalised, and once again Schmidt kept Austria's clean sheet intact.
In the end, Austria celebrated a thoroughly deserved 2:0 win over Hungary in their 51st encounter, a victory that could easily have been by a greater margin and ended without conceding thanks to an outstanding Alexander Schmidt.
Head Coach Roger Bader: “You have to know that this team, as it was on the ice today, had never played together before. So that was really good. In the first period, it perhaps was not quite as harmonious yet, even though we were already the better side. As the game progressed, our play became increasingly fluid. We brought speed into the game. You are always happy with a win, so I am very satisfied. It was not an easy game for Alexander Schmidt, given that he has had little match practice recently. He did not have that much to do in the first two periods, but staying alert and being there in the final period to make the good saves shows what a good goaltender he is. We want to win again tomorrow and improve certain things once more.”
Tickets for the second home game against Hungary in Kapfenberg on Friday are available HERE!
Ticket price
Standard price € 12.-
Reduced price (children under 12 years) € 7.-
December Break
12–16 December 2022, Kapfenberg
Austria vs. Hungary 2:0 (1:0, 0:0, 1:0)
Thu, 15 December 2022, 18:30
Austria goalscorers: Lucas Thaler (5th minute), Tim Harnisch (46th minute)
Austria vs. Hungary
Fri, 16 December 2022, 18:30
Live on ORF Sport+ and in the >> ORF-TVthek livestream
