U18 World Cham­pi­onship Divi­sion IA: 2:4 against Kaza­khstan – Austria battle Hungary to avoid rele­ga­tion

Head Coach Florian Mühlstein once again started goalkeeper Luca Haitzmann in Austria's fourth World Championship game. As against Ukraine, Austria fell behind early through a shorthanded goal – Bexultan Makysh scored 1:0 for Kazakhstan after five and a half minutes. 

Red-White-Red took too many penalties in the first period – the ÖEHV selection accumulated five in the opening 20 minutes. With four players aside on the ice, Aristarkh Kireyev made it 2:0 to Kazakhstan (14.). Shortly afterwards, Austria had to kill a 3:5 penalty. One second before they could have continued with at least four players, Ruslan Tusupbekov scored for 3:0 (15.).

Austria took another penalty right at the start of the second period, denying themselves the opportunity to finally establish themselves offensively. After killing the penalty, Austria improved as both teams played more openly. Shortly before the halfway mark, Leon Buzek's game ended early after a check to the head resulted in a five-minute major and game misconduct penalty. 

Austria survived this critical phase and fought their way back into the game: Leon Kolarik beat Kazakhstan goalkeeper Danil Lytkin with a deke, slid the puck over the line for 1:3 and breathed new life into his team (36.). 

At the start of the final period, Austria first had to kill another penalty, but Waschnig and Co. then took control. Austria pressed for a goal to close the gap and got it: Paul Oberhauser made it 2:3, making for a highly exciting final ten minutes (50.). 

Just under three minutes from the end, Head Coach Florian Mühlstein pulled goalkeeper Haitzmann for an extra skater, and did so again a minute later. Sanzhar Ibragim scored an empty-netter to make it 4:2 to Kazakhstan (59.). Austria's U18 men will therefore conclude their World Championship campaign on Saturday against hosts Hungary, starting at 16:00, in a direct relegation battle.

Head Coach Florian Mühlstein after the game: "We completely slept through the first period and fell 0:3 behind. We made too many individual mistakes and took too many penalties overall. Now it is all about full focus on Saturday's game against Hungary. We have to prepare ourselves so that we can win this decisive game!"

2025 IIHF ICE HOCKEY U18 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION I, GROUP A

20–26 April 2025, Szekesfehervar (HUN)
Participants: Denmark, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Slovenia, Ukraine, Austria

Austria vs. Kazakhstan 2:4 (0:3,1:0,1:1)
Thu, 24 April 2025, 16:00, Szekesfehervar
Austria goalscorers: Leon Kolarik (36.), Paul Oberhauer (50.)
Kazakhstan goalscorers: Bexultan Makysh (6./PP1), Aristarkh Kireyev (14.), Ruslan Tusupbekov (15./PP2), Sanzhar Ibragim (59./EN)

Upcoming game:

Austria vs. Hungary
Sat, 26 April 2025, 16:00, Livestream on IIHF.TV

Already played:

Ukraine vs. Austria 6:3 (1:1,5:1,0:1)
Wed, 23 April 2025, 12:30, Szekesfehervar
Ukraine scorers: Daniil Skorokhod (3/PP1), Arsienii Voroteliak (22), Artem Ratushniak (26), Illia Shybinskyi (28), Danylo Olifirchuk (38), Daniil Kuraiev (38)
Austria scorers: David Waschnig (18/PP1), Jakob Schnabl (28/PP1), Leon Buzek (49)

Austria vs. Slovenia 4:1 (3:0,0:1,1:0)
Mon, 21 April 2025, 16:00, Szekesfehervar
Austria scorers: Leon Kolarik (8), Leon Buzek (14), Paul Oberhauser (16), Manuel Wadel (60/EN)
Slovenia scorer: Jaka Rakovič (33)

Denmark vs. Austria 5:3 (3:1,2:1,0:1)
Sun, 20 April 2025, 12:30
Denmark scorers: Mads Klyvo (3, 6), Oliver Larsen (17, 37), Lasse Baerentsen (35)
Austria scorers: Luc van Ee (8), Kevin Mandl (36), Leon Kolarik (60/PP1)

Official website of the U18 World Championship Division IA, with all results and the current standings