U16: Two narrow defeats follow victory over Germany
At the European U16 Women's Ice Hockey Cup in Budapest, the U16 women's national ice hockey team opened with a victory over Germany. On day two, they were beaten 1:2 by Finland. They also suffered a 1:2 defeat against Hungary.
2 min readSource: Eishockey.at
Image information: Austria's U16 women's national ice hockey team beat Germany - Photo: 𝙼𝚊𝚐𝚢𝚊𝚛 𝙹é𝚐𝚔𝚘𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐/hockeyhungary
After just 176 seconds, the Austrians took a 1:0 lead through a superb long-range shot by Gloria Henek, before dominating the puck and their opponents throughout the first period. The result: a 14:2 shot advantage! Germany came out for the second period like a different team, applying pressure and enjoying clearly more of the play.
But all the pressure from Austria's neighbours came to nothing. The U16 team confidently saw out their narrow lead in the third period, allowing just two shots on goal.
Day two brought the clash with Finland, who had surprisingly lost 1:2 to hosts Hungary in a penalty shootout in their opening game. In 2019, the U16 team at the time had prevailed in a shootout, but this time the Finns came out on top, winning 2:1. After Finland had taken a 1:0 lead, Zoey Hobitsch levelled at 1:1 with a determined drive down the right in the third period (38). In the 42th minute, Finland scored the winning goal for 2:1 on the power play. Austria head coach Mario Bellina pulled goaltender Rosina Fichtinger, but they were unable to find an equaliser.
The group stage concluded on Friday evening against Hungary. The hosts took a 1:0 lead through Anna Kornyilov in the 12th minute. Austria fought tenaciously for a long time in search of an equaliser. In goal, Karla Kronberger kept the red-white-red team in the game with some fine saves. Following a misplaced pass by the Hungarians in their own defensive zone straight onto Zoey Hobitsch’s stick, the Villach native scored the celebrated 1:1 equaliser in the 36th minute.
Austria pushed for the winning goal and had several good chances, but Hungary goalkeeper Helga Milibák stood firm. In the end, head coach Mario Bellina pulled Kronberger in an attempt to force a win in regulation time and secure a better placing among the top four. With exactly one second remaining, Berta Mozolai scored into the empty net to seal a 2:1 victory for Hungary.
The placement games are on the schedule on Saturday. Austria will play for fifth place.
Austria vs. Hungary 1:2 (0:1,0:0,1:1)
Fri, 13 May 2022, 19:00
Austria goalscorer: Zoey Hobitsch (36.)
Already played:
Finland vs. Austria 2:1 (1:0,0:0,1:1)
Thu, 12 May 2022, 14:00, Budapest
Austria goalscorer: Zoey Hobitsch (38.)
Germany vs. Austria 0:1 (0:1,0:0,0:0)
Wed, 11 May 2022, 11:30, Budapest
Austria goalscorer: Gloria Henek (3.)
