Austria conclude the Deutschland Cup with a 2:6 defeat to Latvia

In their final game of the Deutschland Cup 2026, head coach Roger Bader’s team were beaten 2:6 by Latvia in front of 3.222 spectators in Düsseldorf. The Latvians made ruthless use of their power-play situations, already leading 5:0 after 30 minutes to secure the tournament title. Austria responded with a quick double strike from Benjamin Baumgartner and Vinzenz Rohrer within two minutes in the middle period and finished the tournament in fourth place.

Austria started with pressure and almost took the lead on their first power play, but Baumgartner’s one-timer from the right did not find its way into the net (7.). The Latvians were more efficient: after losing the puck while building from the back, they finished off their first counter-attack through Bruno Osmanis to take the lead (10.). Shortly afterwards, Nicolas Wieser kept his team from conceding a second goal in a 3-on-2 against Daniels Serkins (12.), but he was then powerless while shorthanded. First, Felikss Gavars converted a cross-ice pass from the left in the power play (13.), then a sharp pass from Renars Krastenbergs, again with the man advantage, was unfortunately deflected for 0:3 (18.).

Austria keep fighting

After the break, Austria looked to spark a comeback and began a strong spell of pressure with a power play, but Rohrer’s shot was unsuccessful (21.). Instead, Latvia struck again, once more with the man advantage: Krastenbergs fired a cross-ice pass from Toms Andersons straight in for 0:4 (27.), before Rudolfs Polcs converted a rebound from a Serkins effort off the post following a counter-attack for 0:5 three minutes later (30.). The ÖEHV side refused to give up, however, and hit back twice within two minutes. First, Baumgartner converted from a central position into the right corner on the power play (32.), then Rohrer sent a fine wrist shot into the top corner after good counter-pressing (34.).

With the 2:5 scoreline behind them, the teams headed into the final period, where they cancelled each other out for a long time. Austria searched for the next goal: Rohrer was denied from the left by Latvia goalkeeper Gustavs Grigals (45.), and shortly afterwards Tim Harnisch also forced him into a fine save with a fierce shot (51.). In the midst of this strong Austrian phase, Latvia broke free behind the net, and Raimonds Vitolins gave Wieser no chance from close range to make it 6:2 (52.).

Roger Bader, ÖEHV head coach: "I know it sounds strange when I say after a 2:6 defeat that I am largely satisfied with the game, but that is how it is. We had more shots on goal and also more high-quality chances. I am happy with that."

Vinzenz Rohrer, ÖEHV forward: "Throughout the tournament, we were only able to deliver a good performance in certain phases of the game. I think that, despite the result, we produced our best performance of the tournament in this game."

Match report

Deutschland Cup 2026
Latvia – Austria 6:2 (3:0, 2:2, 1:0)
PSD BANK DOME, Düsseldorf, Germany, attendance: 3.222

Goals:

• OSMANIS (Skrastins) (09:41)
• GAVARS (T. Andersons, Smons) (12:27/PP)
• KRASTENBERGS (T. Andersons) (17:38/PP)
• KRASTENBERGS (T. Andersons, Melnalksnis) (26:51/PP)
• POLCS (Serkins, D. Andersons) (29:16)
• BAUMGARTNER (Thaler, Nickl) (31:52/PP)
• ROHRER (Baumgartner, Huber) (33:54)
• VITOLINS (Veckaktins, Zabusovs) (51:25)

Penalty minutes: 8 and 10

Austria: Wieser (Kickert); Hackl – Maier, Lindner – Nickl, Wimmer – Würschl, Stapelfeldt – Söllinger; Wukovits – Nissner – Thaler, Huber – Baumgartner – Rohrer, Rebernig – Achermann – Schwinger, Harnisch – Wallner – Neubauer