U18 Women’s World Championship: Austria stay up after 2:3 OT loss to Hungary
Austria’s U18 women’s national ice hockey team lost to Hungary in overtime, 2:3, after an exciting battle at the World Championship in Ritten. The point secured confirmed that Austria had stayed up, as Norway had lost the afternoon game against France 1:5 and remained on zero points in the standings. Austria have four points after four games and can no longer be overtaken by Norway in Sunday’s head-to-head encounter.
3 min read
Austria started the clash with Hungary with Magdalena Luggin in goal. After a brisk start, the ÖEHV side had to withstand three consecutive penalties and conceded the 0:1 three minutes before the end of the period, when Regina Metzler scored from the blue line. How open the game was in the first period was reflected by the shots-on-goal statistic being level at 7:7 after 20 minutes.
The team coached by Head Coach Mario Bellina now had to do more in attack and take greater risks after falling behind. During the next penalty kill – with Laura Nagy in the penalty box for Austria – a wonderful combination involving Tamina Schall and Leonie Kutzer led to the 1:1 equaliser in the 25th minute.
The joy over the equaliser was short-lived, as 74 seconds later Boglarka Koncz made it 2:1 for Hungary. The Austrians were not discouraged by the quick reply and fought their way back into the game. Serena Unger crossed the blue line, took heart and fired home the 2:2 equaliser – a dream goal with one minute and one second remaining in the period.
Austria were on top in the final period, had more shots on goal and pressed for the go-ahead goal, but it would not come. With 38 seconds remaining, the red-white-red team received a penalty for too many players on the ice, but held on to take the 2:2 into overtime. Not least because Magdalena Luggin produced several outstanding saves in goal.
The point secured confirmed that Austria had stayed up. After exactly 62:59 minutes, Hungary’s Regina Metzler scored her second goal to seal the 3:2 overtime win. As Norway had lost the afternoon game against France 1:5 and remain on zero points after four games, Austria are already guaranteed to remain in the 2023 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women´s World Championship Division IA ahead of Sunday’s head-to-head clash, starting at 13:00.
Head Coach Mario Bellina: "It went similarly to the other games. My team really fought tremendously hard, but we have to work so hard for every goal. And we often make it too easy for our opponents to score. But we fought back well; we were behind and battled our way back again. At the end of regulation time and at the start of overtime, Magdalena Luggin saved us with some incredible saves. The good thing about today’s game is that the point allowed us to get out of the relegation battle. We can now go into the final game against Norway on Sunday with freedom, and perhaps it will be good for the players’ minds to be able to play hockey freely, without pressure. We want to finish the tournament with a good game, with a moment of enjoyment, so that we can leave the World Championship with a smile."
2023 IIHF ICE HOCKEY U18 WOMEN´S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION I, GROUP A
9–15 January 2023, Ritten/Italy
Schedule and results
Hungary vs. AUSTRIA 3:2 OT (1:0,1:2,0:0,1:0)
Fri, 13 January 2023, 20:00
Austria goalscorers: Leonie Kutzer (24:41 min./SH1), Serena Unger (38:59 min.)
AUSTRIA vs. Norway
Sun, 15 January 2023, 13:00 >> to the livestream
Already played:
Germany vs. AUSTRIA 2:0 (0:0,1:0,1:0)
Thu, 12 January 2023, 13:00
France vs. AUSTRIA 2:3 SO (1:1,1:0,0:1,0:0,0:1)
Tue, 10 January 2023, 16:30
Austria scorers: Lena Artner (12:06 min./PP1), Zoey Hobitsch (42:32 min.), in the shoot-out: Anna Billa (65:00 min.), Leonie Kutzer (65:00 min.)
AUSTRIA vs. Italy 0:1 after OT (0:0,0:0,0:0,0:1)
Mon, 9 January 2023, 20:00
