U20 Men: Austria lose final World Championship warm-up against Norway 3:4 OT
After the first period, Austria were still on course for victory. Konstantin Hutzinger gave them the lead with a brace and, midway through the second period, after Norway had equalised, made it 3:2. However, the Scandinavians levelled the score again immediately after the start of the final period. Niklas Olsen, who scored to make it 3:3, also secured victory for his team after 1:13 minutes of overtime. Austria will begin their Division IA World Championship campaign against Slovenia in Bled (SLO) on Sunday. Head Coach Philipp Pinter will announce the final World Championship squad on Friday.
2 min read
It was a strong performance from the young ÖEHV players. Konstantin Hutzinger proved to be a genuine power-play specialist, as all three of his goals came with the man advantage. Conversely, Austria also conceded two of their three goals in regulation while serving penalties.
But first things first: Hutzinger struck twice within six minutes. That Austria were able to take their 2.0 lead into the break was initially thanks to strong penalty killing and goaltender Patrick Graschner. Shortly after making it 2:0, Austria took two penalties in quick succession and were shorthanded almost continuously between the 14th and 18th minutes.
In the second period, Graschner was finally beaten twice as Norway equalised at 2:2. However, Head Coach Philipp Pinter's charges quickly regrouped and could once again rely on Konstantin Hutzinger, who restored his team's lead.
Austria found themselves two men down right at the start of the final period and promptly conceded to make it 3:3. Indiscipline remained the order of the day, meaning they had to serve two further penalties, but came through them unscathed. The decision ultimately came in overtime, where Niklas Olsen followed up his equaliser with the winning goal.
Head Coach Philipp Pinter: "Overall, we had a really good week here in Ferlach. The boys gave it their all and we can draw the right lessons from the two warm-up games. Today's performance was better than the one against Slovenia, even though we lost in the end. Overall, only our discipline was not ideal. We now have the difficult decision to make regarding what the final World Championship squad will look like."
World Championship preparation
01–05 December 2025, Ferlach
Austria vs. Norway 3:4 OT (2:0, 1:2, 0:1, 0:1)
Thu, 4 December 2025, 16:30, Ferlach
Austria goalscorer: Konstantin Hutzinger (5 PP, 11 PP, 31 PP)
Norway goalscorers: Elias Straume Vatne (22 PP), Nils Sunde (25), Niklas Olsen (41 PP, 62)
Austria lined up with:
Goaltender: Patrick Grascher, backups Leandro Djuric, Johannes Dobrovolny
Line 1: Jakob Schnabl, Fabian Baumann, Leon Kolarik, Johannes Neumann (C), Felix Haiböck (A)
Line 2: Nico Uschan, Lennart Braun, Paul Sintschnig, Vasily Zelenov (A), Jonathan Oschgan
Line 3: Gerrit Böhs, Lukas Wieselthaler, Konstantin Hutzinger, Paul Oberhauser, Paul Schuster
Line 4: Tristan Söllinger, Lennart Leitner, Leon Buzek, Kevin Mandl, Constantin Humer
Austria vs. Slovenia 4:2 (2:1, 1:0, 1:1)
Wed, 3 December 2025, 17:00, Ferlach
Austria scorers: Luca Kogler (8'), Benedikt Krainer (20'), Paul Schuster (25'), Konstantin Hutzinger (41')
Slovenia scorers: Ian Petronijevič Lepsa (13'), Zan Špari Leben (51')
Austria lined up with:
Line 1: Nico Uschan, Paul Reiner, Benedikt Krainer, Luca Kogler, Adrian Gesson
Line 2: Johannes Gruber, Lukas Wieselthaler, Jonathan Oschgan, Paul Sintschnig, Ivan Zelenov
Line 3: Gerrit Böhs, Lennart Leitner, Kevin Mandl, Johannes Dobrovolny, Paul Schuster
Line 4: Lennart Braun, Tristan Söllinger, Leon Buzek, Constantin Humer, Konstantin Hutzinger
Goalkeepers: Luca Haitzmann, Leandro Djuric, Paul Oberhauser
