Euro­pean Youth Olympic Festival: Austria finish EYOF in 6th place

A bitter end for Austria's players in Georgia. After a spectacular start to the tournament with a 5:2 victory over Czechia, they missed out on the semi-finals following a heavy 4:12 defeat to Switzerland. They then concluded with a 1:4 loss to Latvia. However, the team showed character and were determined to make amends after the Switzerland game.

Latvia caught the Austrians cold with the 1:0 after 54 seconds, but they were not fazed by it. They had four power-play opportunities in the first period alone, but were unable to convert that numerical advantage into goals. 

Latvia then made it 2:0 in an evenly balanced second period. Austria continued to battle. All three lines created chances. Instead of the deserved goal to pull one back, Latvia forced the decision in the final period, first extending their lead to 3:0 at 45, before making it 4:0 at 55. Shortly afterwards, Jonathan Oschgan scored Austria's only goal.

Head Coach Peter Schweda: "We played a very good game. With a little bit of luck, we would have come off the ice as winners. I am very proud of the team and of how they performed today after yesterday's defeat. When you miss out on the semi-finals solely on goal difference in a group with two established top-tier nations in Czechia and Switzerland, you have done a lot right. The boys will certainly never forget the game against Czechia. They worked extremely professionally throughout the week. The EYOF was a great experience. Thank you to the ÖOC for giving us this opportunity."

European Youth Olympic Festival

Group stage:

Austria vs. Czechia 5:2 (2:1,0:0,3:1)
Thu, 13 February 2025, 15:00, Tbilisi
Austria goalscorers: Ben Öfner (at 10, 54), Paul Schuster (at 10), Marc Hudritsch (at 54), Luca Fischer (at 56)
Czechia goalscorers: Jaroslav Sedivy (at 6), Michal Hartl (at 47)

Switzerland vs. Austria 12:4 (5:2,3:2,4:0)
Fri, 14 February 2025, 15:00, Tbilisi
Austria goalscorers: Paul Sintschnig (at 5, 22, 34), Ferdinand Humer (at 16)
Switzerland goalscorers: Elia Liniger (at 3), Tadeo Prosser (at 8), Liam Dube (at 10), Ryan Bizzozero (at 11), Maxime Sauthier (at 13), Tim Munger (at 22, 32), Wsewolod Schwanemann (at 36), Sol Liam Flia Fueter (at 49, 54), Sven Kriesi (at 52), Loic Mukuna (at 54)

Fifth-place play-off:

Austria vs. Latvia 1:4 (0:1,0:1,1:2)
Sat, 15 February 2025, 08:00, Tbilisi
Austria goalscorer: Jonathan Oschgan (55)
Latvia goalscorers: Kristers Obuks (1), David Tarvids (28, 45), Janis Jukams (55)