Austria’s U18 national team edges Hungary after shootout thriller

Austria’s U18 head coach Philipp Pinter once again placed his trust in first-choice netminder Mika Haim for the third World Championship game against Hungary at the Iscenter Nord. Hungary, who had won their opener against Denmark 4:1 on Sunday before suffering a heavy 2:8 defeat to Germany on Monday, made a flying start: Ádám Balogh gave them an early 1:0 lead (4 min.).

After that, the first period was largely an evenly balanced contest. Four minutes before the first buzzer, the ÖEHV selection took their first penalty but killed it off without conceding. Rot-Weiß-Rot then had a power play in the final minute, but remained narrowly behind 0:1 after 20 minutes.

Hungary also started the second period better: Ágoston Schmidt made it 2:0 for the team coached by Bence Svasznek (26 min.). Austria finally got on the scoresheet on the next power play, with Paul Sintschnig reducing the deficit to 1:2 (28 min.). But Hungary quickly responded to the goal that brought Austria back within one, Gergő Schwartz making it 3:1 (31 min.). Austria fought back, with Benedikt Krainer making it 2:3 to restore his team’s hopes (33 min.).

Eight seconds after play resumed in the final period, Austria took another penalty. But instead of conceding, they equalised while shorthanded: David Waschnig made it 3:3 exactly 51 seconds into the penalty kill (41 min.). The U18 then pushed for the lead for the first time in two consecutive power plays.

Almost six minutes later, the moment arrived: David Waschnig scored his second goal to put Austria 4:3 ahead (53 min.), with the ÖEHV selection having completed the turnaround. Three minutes after taking the lead, Benedikt Krainer made it 5:3, also his second goal of the afternoon (56 min.).

In the end, what had already been an extremely exciting game turned into a thriller: with one minute and twelve seconds remaining before the final buzzer, Hungary pulled netminder Olivér Király for a sixth skater, and Vén Bendegúz did indeed score the goal to make it a one-goal game 24 seconds from time (60.). Hungary continued to take risks, and Ágoston Schmidt equalised at 5:5 in the final second of the game (60.). 

The match went to overtime, in which no further goal was scored. The decision had to be made in a shootout. David Waschnig and Johannes Neumann scored for Rot-Weiß-Rot, while netminder Mika Haim allowed just one goal. Austria beat Hungary 6:5 after a shootout and collected two more important points in the battle to stay in the division.

Head Coach Philipp Pinter analysed the match shortly after the final whistle: “It was a dramatic World Championship game. The match was very evenly balanced. We had relatively little control of the game in the first 30 minutes, but we did not allow much either, while creating too little offensively. We then fought our way back into it and put in a really good performance in the final period. The lads were outstanding in terms of their battling spirit. We then made tactical adjustments to our forechecking and played a little more aggressively. That paid off. We turned the match from 2:3 to 5:3. We conceded a silly goal to make it 4:5, then they equalised 0,1 seconds before the end. Naturally, the boys were briefly deflated. But what distinguishes our team is that it can find the right response. We had more of the play in overtime and ultimately earned a deserved shootout win. Hungary were very strong, but we showed morale and character to come back once again. The final minute is a learning process when you give up a two-goal lead. It was an important win for the boys!”

Hosts Denmark await on Thursday

Austria continue against Denmark at the Iscenter Nord on Thursday from 20:00. The hosts lost their first two World Championship games, 1:4 against Hungary and 1:3 against Ukraine. Denmark play Japan in Wednesday’s evening game.

The head coach is already looking ahead to the next game: “We have a little more time to recover today, will have a short training session on Thursday morning, do some video analysis and prepare well for Denmark. I hope we can continue in this direction and claim the next win!”

2024 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship Division IA

Austria vs. Hungary 6:5 after shootout (0:1,2:2,3:2,0:0,1:0)
Wed, 17 April 2024, 13:00, Frederikshavn (DEN)
Austria scorers: Paul Sintschnig (28 min./PP1), Benedikt Krainer (33 min., 56 min.), David Waschnig (41 min./SH1, 53 min.) - David Waschnig and Johannes Neumann scored in the shootout.
Hungary scorers: Ádám Balogh (4 min.), Ágoston Schmidt (26 min. 60 min.), Gergő Schwartz (31 min.), Vén Bendegúz (60 min.) - Aleksandar Antonijevic scored in the shootout

>> Official Austria line-up

>> Current IIHF standings

Other games:

Denmark vs. Austria
Thu, 18 April 2024, 20:00, Frederikshavn (DEN) >> Livestream

Ukraine vs. Austria
Sat, 20 April 2024, 13:00, Frederikshavn (DEN) >> Livestream

Already played:

Japan vs. Austria 3:6 (0:3,1:2,2:1)
Mon, 15 April 2024, 16:30, Frederikshavn (DEN)
Japan goalscorers: Reo Daikuhara (39th/PP1), Ryota Seki (54nd), Yota Takashima (59th/PP1)
Austria goalscorers: Johannes Neumann (4th, 59th/EN), Leon Kolarik (12th, 14th/PP1), Paul Reiner (33rd/PP1), Adrian Gesson (37th/PP1)

Austria vs. Germany 2:3 (1:0,1:1,0:2)
Sun, 14 April 2024, 13:00, Frederikshavn
Austria goalscorers: Gregor Biber (1st), Paul Reiner (22nd)
Germany goalscorers: Tobias Schwarz (28th/PP1), David Lewandowski (42nd/PP1), Lenny Boos (43rd)

>> Official Austria Line-up

All information on the official IIHF website

U18 World Championship squad: