U18 lose to Hungary at the Ferlach Cup

Austria’s U18 national team trailed Hungary 0:1 shortly before the end of the first period, before Alexander Rupnik made it 1:1 32 seconds before the first siren. Austria had turned the game around by the 26th minute, with Paul Reiner scoring for 2:1. It was to remain their first and last lead of the afternoon at Ferlach Ice Rink.

Still in the second period, Hungary pulled away to 4:2 after equalising, before Raffael Aigner gave the red-white-red team fresh hope with the 3:4 goal in the 45th minute of the final period. Just under ten minutes later, the visitors sealed the win at 5:3, with Balazs Bendeguz Ven scoring Hungary’s final 6:3 with an empty-netter.

Head Coach Philipp Pinter analysed the match against Hungary after the game: "We had a very good start to the first period and played with pressure; we had Hungary under control. We led 2:1 in the second period and continued in a similar manner. We had good spells and good chances, and the Hungarian goalkeeper made good saves during that phase. Then we had a short spell in which the game turned. We made three or four individual mistakes and Hungary went 4:2 ahead. We fought our way back into the game with the 3:4, but then conceded the 3:5 after a mistake and an empty-net goal at the end."

Pinter was very satisfied with the training week in Ferlach and drew a positive conclusion: "The week was excellent. The players played at a high tempo and showed great intensity. We saw in the games that small details and lapses in concentration are decisive at this international level. It was good to see who could play their way into the World Championship team. We gained a good perspective of what the team could look like in April for the promotion mission."

Narrow defeat to Slovenia

Austria’s U18 national team faced Slovenia in their second Ferlach Cup game and, after an even contest, ultimately had to accept a 1:2 shootout defeat.

The score was 1:1 after regulation time. Martin Crepinsek had put Austria’s southern neighbours ahead in the 33rd minute. Laurin Sandholzer equalised in the final period with a power-play goal in the 45th minute. 

Neither team found the winning goal in overtime, while Anze Zezelj converted the decisive attempt in the shootout.  

Head Coach Philipp Pinter: "Unfortunately, we did not appear ready either physically or mentally and struggled to get into the game. Slovenia played aggressively and applied pressure. At the start, we were not ready to accept that battle, did not seek out enough duels and did not win enough of them either. Things improved slightly in the second period, although we too often tried to force things and made too many individual plays. In the final period, we found our hockey. We moved the puck, played direct hockey and at times hemmed Slovenia into their own zone. We deservedly equalised there. A shootout always involves a little luck. Slovenia proved to be the tough opponent we expected."

Clear opening win over Italy

On Thursday, the U18 celebrated a clear 6:1 win over Italy. Head Coach Philipp Pinter was very satisfied with his players’ performance after the game: "We can be very satisfied with this start. We played aggressively and implemented what we had set out to do. We wanted to put the opposition under pressure from the outset, and we did that very well. We were very solid in our own zone. After 15 minutes, the score was already 5:0; after that, we eased off a little, committed careless penalties and allowed the opposition some breathing room. Our chance conversion was not at its best in the second period, but we still played as we had envisaged and allowed Italy only two shots on goal. Congratulations to the team. We expect Slovenia to be somewhat stronger than Italy, but we will improve too."

Results - Ferlach Cup 2022

Austria vs. Hungary 3:6 (1:1,1:3,1:2)
Sat., 12 November 2022, 13:00
Austria goalscorers:Alexander Rupnik (20th), Paul Reiner (26th), Raffael Aigner (45th)

Austria vs Slovenia 1:2 after a penalty shootout (0:0,0:1,1:0,0:0,0:1)
Fri, 11 November 2022, 19:30
Austria goalscorer: Laurin Sandholzer (45th/PP1)

Austria vs Italy 6:1 (5:1,1:0,0:0)
Thu, 10 November 2022, 19:30
Austria goalscorers: Johannes Neumann (7th), David Waschnig (7th), Leon Lamereiner (9th, 27th), Alexander Rupnik (13th), Oliver Lam (19th/SH1)