Austria win the friendly in Klagen­furt against Italy 3:2 after a shootout!

Austria started their first match against Italy with local favourite Anja Adamitsch in goal and began with plenty of pressure. Two power plays followed, but the Austrians were unable to convert them into goals. 

The ÖEHV selection continued to forecheck aggressively, with only their shots on Italy goalkeeper Ilaria Girardi’s net lacking precision. The Italians, who had most recently finished third behind South Korea and Poland at the 2023 IIHF Ice Hockey Women´s World Championship Division IB in South Korea in April, were dangerous on the counter-attack. 

Goalkeeper Anja Adamitsch was alert for Italy’s chances, but the Klagenfurt native had no chance at 0:1. Manuela Heidenberger deflected a sharp pass beyond reach to give Italy the lead (18.).

At the start of the second period, both teams moved quickly through the neutral zone. The pace remained good, although the passes did not always reach their intended target with sufficient accuracy. Following a forceful Italian attack, Matilde Fantin scored to make it 2:0 (26.). 

The red-white-red team quickly responded with a goal to pull one back. Annika Fazokas gave Italy goalkeeper Ilaria Girardi no chance with a fine penalty shot to make it 1:2 (27.). The team coached by assistant coach Mario Bellina pushed for the equaliser, which came on a 5:4 power play just under three minutes before the end of the period: winger Laura Lüftenegger scored to make it 2:2 (38.).

In the first minute of the third period, Austria pinned the Italians in their own defensive zone. The Italians created a major chance through Manuela Heidenberger on a quick counter-attack, but Anja Adamitsch made a good save. Austria then successfully killed off two penalties. 

The Italians coached by Massimo Fedrizzi had the clearer chances to make it 3:2 during this phase. In the final ten minutes, Antonia Matzka and her teammates showed more attacking intent again, which was interrupted by another penalty kill. However, the penalty killing worked very well that evening, and the match remained exciting until the closing stages. 

Shootout decides the match

After 60 minutes, the score was 2:2, and the game went to five minutes of three-on-three overtime. Austria had victory on their sticks twice, while Italy also came dangerously close to the Austrian net once. The ÖEHV selection still had a power play in the final 18 seconds, but neither side scored and the decision came in the shootout. 

Katharina Killius and Tamara Grascher converted their attempts, while Anja Adamitsch stopped all of the neighbouring side’s shootout attempts. Austria celebrated a 3:2 shootout victory in the first of two friendlies against Italy. 

Annika Fazokas was named the red-white-red team’s player of the evening. Tomorrow, Saturday, 5 August 2023, the second friendly against Italy follows at 12:30. Admission to the Sepp-Puschnig-Halle in Klagenfurt is once again free.

Assistant coach Mario Bellina was satisfied with the performance after the first friendly: "The first friendly against Italy served its purpose. In four training sessions, we tried to incorporate as much as possible from the playbook that we want to use at the World Championship. That worked quite well at times. At other times, we also saw that there is still potential and areas where we need to make adjustments so that it becomes second nature. All the women battled at full speed. Of course, it is tough to get into match mode after the long summer break and four on-ice training sessions, and that was really the purpose of this game. It was the full programme straight away: overtime and a shootout. We were able to practise three-on-three play, which can be an important aspect at the World Championship!"

Goalkeeper Anja Adamitsch, who secured the narrow victory with her saves, analysed the match: "The game was very good; it was a great opportunity to put into practice what we have learned so far at the camp in Klagenfurt. It was an exciting and evenly matched game, and it was also great that it went to overtime and a shootout, which gave us the chance to practise that as well. It had everything today: power play and penalty killing. We are already looking forward to China; preparation has been very good so far. Tomorrow, we have another chance against Italy to put into practice what we have not done so well yet. We are now making the final adjustments and working on the small details. We still have a training session on Sunday, and then we are off to China on 12 August!"

Austria vs. Italy 3:2 n.P. (0:1,2:1,0:0,0:0,1:0)
Fri, 4 August 2023, 19:15, Sepp-Puschnig-Halle
Austria goalscorers: Annika Fazokas (27./PS), Laura Lüftenegger (38./PP1), Katharina Killius (decisive penalty shot)
Italy goalscorers: Manuela Heidenberger (18.), Matilde Fantin (26.)

Admission to both friendlies at the Sepp-Puschnig-Halle in Klagenfurt is free.

Women’s National Team World Championship preparation

2–6 August 2023, Klagenfurt

Austria vs. Italy
Sat., 5 August 2023, 12:30, Sepp-Puschnig-Halle
Live on LIVE.eishockey.at

2023 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship Division IA

20 August 2023–26 August 2023, Shenzhen (CHN)

Schedule
The dates and times refer to our local time zone; the local time is shown in brackets.

Austria vs. Norway
Sun., 20 August 2023, 10:30 (16:30 local time)
Live on LIVE.eishockey.at

Denmark vs. Austria
Mon., 21 August 2023, 07:00 (13:00 local time)
Live on LIVE.eishockey.at

Netherlands vs. Austria
Wed., 23 August 2023, 10:30 (16:30 local time)
Live on LIVE.eishockey.at

Austria vs. China
Thu, 24 August 2023, 14:00 (20:00)
Live on ORF SPORT +

Slovakia vs. Austria
Sat, 26 August 2023, 07:00 (13:00)
Live on ORF SPORT +