Successful conclu­sion

In their third and final group game of Olympic qualifying, Austria started more aggressively and dynamically against Poland, as expected. Manuel Ganahl gave them an early lead in the game. (5.) The Vorarlberg native, who plays for KAC, converted a perfectly executed move down the right by Peter Schneider. The national team kept up the tempo and Benjamin Baumgartner had a good chance in the eighth minute. This opportunity resulted in a two-minute penalty for Poland – but Austria were unable to capitalise on it. (10.) Twelve minutes had been played when the impressive Brian Lebler was narrowly denied by the goal. Virtually straight from the restart, the opponents made it 1:1. Urbanowicz found the net unmarked in front of Kickert – it was their first notable chance. (12.) This goal gave the opponents a slight boost. Austria were fortunate when a shot hit the post in the 18th minute. But 57 seconds before the end of the period, the puck was back in the Polish net. Lebler put his team 2:1 ahead.

At the start of the middle period, Austria head coach Roger Bader saw his team spending more time on the defensive. First, Baumgartner and company killed off a penalty, and later Kickert denied the equaliser with his saves. This meant they had conceded just one shorthanded goal throughout the tournament. The defensive pairings worked well together and, in the 35th minute of play, Lebler increased the lead to 3:1 with his fourth goal of the tournament – a powerful wrist shot found the net. This was also the score at the interval.

Austria were once again the team controlling the game. The Red-White-Reds allowed the Eastern Europeans just ten shots. This dominance continued to show as the game progressed. Lebler added his third goal (54.) to make it 4:1 at the final whistle. Austria therefore finished Olympic qualifying in Bratislava in third place with three points. Slovakia secured the Olympic ticket.

Statement from head coach Roger Bader:
“We knew that the Poland game would not be straightforward, that it could be a tough match. We were the better side, and the win was deserved by this margin as well. We played against top teams. Of course, we were aiming for the big goal. We knew it would be extremely difficult and that everything would have to go right. 90 to 95 per cent was positive.”

Olympic qualifying, game 1 in Bratislava
AUT – SVK 1:2 (0:1/0:1/1:0)
Lebler (53.) and Hudacek (2.) Gernat (29.)

Olympic qualifying, game 2 in Bratislava
AUT - BLR 2:5 (2:0/0:5/0:0)
Herburger (9.PP1) Lebler (19.) and Stas (21. PP1) Yegor Sharangovich (26. and 33.) Prince (37.PP1) Platt (40.)

Olympic qualifying, game 3 in Bratislava
AUT-POL 4:1 (2:1/1:0/1:0)
Ganahl (5.) Lebler (20./35./53.) and Urbanowicz (12.)