Austria’s U18 team wins World Cham­pi­onship thriller against Slovenia and remains in the promo­tion race!

Austria got off to a dream start against hosts Slovenia at the Bled Ice Hall: Felix Haiböck deflected a shot from defenceman Paul Reiner following an offensive-zone face-off after exactly eleven seconds to give Austria a 1:0 lead. 

After that, the team coached by Head Coach Philipp Pinter, who once again put his trust in Benedikt Oschgan as starting goalie, tried to control the game. 

Shortly after successfully killing off a penalty, a delayed penalty was being called against Slovenia when Alexander Rupnik drove irresistibly into the offensive zone, skated around two Slovenians and sent the puck into the net for 2:0 in the ninth minute. 

Towards the end of the first period, the hosts pressed for a goal to reduce the deficit, but goalie Oschgan kept a clean sheet. The ÖEHV selection had a power play for the final 40 seconds, but no goal came, so Austria began the second period on the power play. That numerical advantage went unused. 

After almost four minutes, Alexander Rupnik had 3:0 on his stick, but was denied by Slovenia’s netminder Jon Dukarič. The hosts naturally had to play more offensively and tested goalie Oschgan several times. Austria’s keeper was powerless against Anže Žeželj’s shot from the slot in the 30th minute, which reduced the deficit to 1:2. 

Austria found the perfect response just 24 seconds after the 1:2. Alexander Rupnik shot at goal and, after Dukarič made the initial save, Paul Noll tucked home the rebound to make it 3:1. Rot-Weiß-Rot then had to negotiate a tricky spell, but came through four minutes shorthanded unscathed. 

In the final minute of the second period, with Slovenia on the power play, Austria had three clear-cut chances for a shorthanded goal. First, Oliver Lam was denied by Dukarič on a breakaway and David Waschnig could not convert the rebound. Moments later, Luca Kogler went in alone on the Slovenian goal, but it remained 3:1 after 40 minutes.

Austria show character after quick double

Right at the start of the final period, Slovenia – still on the power play – had the chance to equalise, but keeper Benedikt Oschgan denied them with a huge save. Austria had just returned to full strength when Žan Špari Leben fired a powerful shot from the right face-off circle to make it 2:3 after 53 seconds. Just 53 seconds later, Anže Žeželj was played in perfectly after a quick counterattack and lifted the puck into the net on his backhand for 3:3. 

The shock of the quick double did not last long: Austria had a power play and Gregor Biber gave Slovenia’s keeper Dukarič no chance with a superb wrist shot to make it 4:3 in the 47th minute. In the final 13 minutes, both teams engaged in an entertaining battle as the game developed into a thriller. 

Austria killed off a penalty and then struck: Laurin Wempe scored 5:3 for the ÖEHV selection in the 57th minute. The final minutes were not for the faint-hearted. Slovenia first pulled goalie Dukarič and Maj Crnkič made it 4:5 with a minute and a half remaining. With 58 seconds left, Paul Noll scored into the empty net to make it 6:4 for Austria, his second goal of the evening.

But that was not all: with four seconds remaining, the referees awarded Slovenia a penalty shot because keeper Benedikt Oschgan had dislodged his goal. Oschgan made up for that error with a strong save as Austria’s U18 national team celebrated a sensational 6:4 victory and remains in the promotion race. 

Goalie Benedikt Oschgan was named Austria’s Player of the Game. After a rest day on Friday, their next World Championship game is on Saturday at 19:30 against their Italian counterparts, who have won all three of their games so far and have nine points. Austria has moved into second place behind them, with six points from three games.

Head Coach Philipp Pinter analysed the Bled World Championship thriller after the final siren: "There was a lot of nervousness, the boys realised that there was a great deal at stake. It was incredible how my players kept battling after the equaliser and gave the right response. It was a battle full of great passion and heart over 60 minutes. We are proud of this team and of this collective determination. Goalie Benedikt Oschgan was outstanding today; it was incredible what he saved. First, we will celebrate, then it will be time to recover. The next battle against Italy awaits on Saturday and we will prepare accordingly!"

2023 IIHF U18 World Championship Division I, Group B:

Slovenia vs. Austria 4:6 (0:2.1:1,3:3)
Thu, 13 April 2023, 19:30, Bled Ice Hall
Slovenia scorers: Anže Žeželj (30., 42.), Žan Špari Leben (41.), Maj Crnkič (59.)
Austria scorers: Felix Haiböck (1.), Alexander Rupnik (9.), Paul Noll (30., 60./EN), Gregor Biber (47./PP1), Laurin Wempe (57.)

Upcoming matches:

Austria vs. Italy
Sat., 15 April 2023, 19:30, Bled Ice Rink
>> watch the live stream

Austria vs. South Korea
Sun., 16 April 2023, 16:00, Bled Ice Rink
>> watch the live stream

Matches played:

Austria vs. Estonia 7:1 (3:0,2:0,2:1)
Tue., 11 April 2023, 12:30, Bled Ice Rink
Austria goalscorers: Oliver Lam (9/PP1, 42), Florian Lanzinger (11), Paul Noll (19), Leon Lamereiner (25), Johannes Neumann (38), Maximilian Schwarz (50)
Estonia goalscorer:Maksim Burkov (44.)

Poland vs. Austria 3:1 (1:0,2:1,0:0)
Mon., 10 April 2023, 12:30, Bled Ice Rink
Poland goalscorers: Jakub Hofman (3 min./PP1), Maksymilian Dawid (29 min./PP1, 36 min./PP1)
Austria goalscorer: Florian Lanzinger (33/PP1)

Current IIHF standings

All information and the full schedule can be found at www.iihf.com