Thriller! Austria beat Norway in over­time

Image information: Lena Dauböck's effort epitomises the tremendous fighting spirit displayed by the Austrian team. - Photo copyright: Théo Bariller-Krine

Austria's women were already under pressure for their second game at the World Championship Division IA in Angers. Norway had won their opening two games, 2:1 against Slovakia on Sunday and 7:1 against the Netherlands on Monday. The Austrian team had opened the tournament with a narrow 2:1 penalty-shot win over the Netherlands. A defeat would have meant the premature end of the “Mission Promotion”.

Both teams began this important game at Angers IceParc with solid defensive foundations. Austria started with goaltender Selma Luggin in net, while Ena Nystrøm was between the posts for Norway. As the first period progressed, the team coached by head coach Jari Risku gained more and more of an advantage.

After ten and a half minutes, Marthe Brunvold of the Scandinavians was sent to the penalty box for two minutes for a body check. 87 seconds later, team-mate Madelen Haug Hansen joined her in the box for hooking. This gave Austria a 5:3 advantage, which they exploited perfectly. First, Annika Fazokas gave Austria a 1:0 lead (13 minutes), before, just 54 seconds later, Tamara Grascher converted a pass from Antonia Matzka on the 5:4 power play to make it 2:0 to Austria (14 minutes).

In the second period, Austria's Meilan Haberl was sent off for two minutes for tripping and Norway used the power play to pull one back through Mathea Fischer for 1:2 (27 minutes). Just 64 seconds later, the Norwegians levelled through Une Bjelland following a quick counter-attack (28 minutes). Anna Meixner and co. quickly recovered from the shock of conceding two quick goals and immediately created attacking moments again against the hard-playing league leaders. Unfortunately, Austria's women were unable to take advantage of two power plays during this good spell, with either Ena Nystrøm saving the shots or the puck narrowly missing the goal.

Austria's go-ahead goal was in the air, but it came at the other end shortly before the end of the period. This time, two Austrian players – Eva Beiter for tripping and Antonia Matzka for slashing – had to go to the penalty box for two minutes. Exactly 15 seconds before the period horn, Lotte Pedersen deflected an Emma Bergesen pass into the net to make it 3:2 for Norway (40 minutes).

At the start of the final period, Austria had a power-play opportunity to equalise, but Annika Fazokas was immediately sent to the penalty box for tripping. Austria battled fiercely for the equaliser, but Norway's defence stood firm. Just under eight minutes from the end, Austria were rewarded for their tremendous fighting spirit. Eva Beiter fired towards the Norwegian goal from a tight angle along the goal line and caught Ena Nystrøm wrong-footed, bringing Austria level at 3:3 (53 minutes). Five minutes before the end, Austria then had a great chance to decide the game on a power play. However, they were unable to score the winner in regulation time.

In the overtime at 3:3, the Austrians immediately took advantage of the extra space on the ice and caused real confusion in the Norwegian defence. It took only 40 seconds before captain Anna Meixner finished off a wonderful combination involving Annika Fazokas and Theresa Schafzahl, who was also named Austria's player of the game, to secure a 4:3 overtime victory for Austria (61 minutes).

Head coach Jari Risku was very pleased with his team's performance: "That was another really good game from us in every respect, but once again we had to take the long route. In the end, the win was the most important thing today. We are proud of our team! The World Championship story continues strongly!"

There is not much time for the ÖEHV team to catch their breath: the hosts France await on Thursday, 28 April at 19:30. Austria are firmly in the promotion race, but they need two regulation-time wins from their remaining two games against France and Slovakia.

24–30 April 2022, Angers (FRA)

Norway vs. Austria 3:4 after overtime (0:2,3:0,0:1,0:1)
Wed, 27 April 2022, 16:00
Norway goalscorers: Mathea Fischer (27 min/PP1), Une Bjelland (28 min), Lotte Pedersen (40 min/PP2)
Austria goalscorers: Annika Fazokas (13 min/PP2), Tamara Grascher (14 min/PP1), Eva Beiter (53 min), Anna Meixner (61 min)

Austria vs. France
Thu, 28 April 2022, 19:30

Austria vs. Slovakia
Sat, 30 April 2022, 16:00

Already played:

Netherlands vs. Austria 1:2
Sun, 24 April 2022, 16:00
Austria goalscorer: Charlotte Wittich (32 min/PP; 65 min/penalty)