No points despite early lead

On Saturday afternoon, the Austrian national team made an excellent start at Ljubljana's Hala Tivoli. After four minutes, defenceman Bernd Wolf scored to give Austria an early lead against Slovenia. It was the first goal for the red-white-red side for the 24-year-old.

However, over the following ten minutes of play, the host Slovenians turned the game around, capitalising on mistakes in Austria's defence. Ziga Pesut, Gregor Koblar and Blaz Tomazevic put the well-organised Slovenians 3:1 ahead. That proved to be the final score, as the steadily improving Austrians were unable to beat the Slovenian netminder.

"I am definitely not satisfied with the first period. We played too passively and with insufficient physicality," said head coach Roger Bader. "Slovenia were more aggressive in the battles and earned themselves an advantage as a result. We addressed that during the first intermission and improved accordingly."

From the second period onwards, Austria took control and created numerous good scoring chances. Peter Schneider and Lucas Thaler both hit the post, while Benjamin Nissner and Alexander Rauchenwald were denied by the opposing goalkeeper. "From the second period onwards, we certainly had a slight edge. Unfortunately, we did not take our chances. We need to correct that for the next games and also find our way into the match better from the start," said head coach Bader.

On Monday, it continues at 13 with the second tournament game against Poland follows, with ORF Sport+ and LAOLA1.at broadcasting LIVE again. Whether Benjamin Baumgartner can take part in this match depends on his examination in hospital. The forward was unable to return to the ice after a heavy check in the final period against Slovenia.