U20 Men: Austria win first World Cham­pi­onship warm-up against Slovenia 4:2

This match will not make things easy for their head coach. And that is how it should be. Philipp Pinter faces the difficult decision after the two warm-up games against Slovenia and Norway of deciding who will make the World Championship squad: "The young players have done well. Accordingly, it will be very difficult for us to cut nine players after these two games. We will have to give that some serious thought."

You could see what was at stake for the players on both sides. Not an inch of ice was given away and the battles were hard-fought. Slovenia put Austria under considerable pressure early on, but the home side grew into the game with every passing minute. In the 8 minute, Luca Kogler finally gave his team a 1:0 lead. Slovenia then pressed for an equaliser, which came in the 13 minute, but Benedikt Krainer made it 2:1 for Austria before the break. 

Less than five minutes had been played in the second period when 16-year-old Paul Schuster took centre stage and made it 3:1. Both sides subsequently created chances, but the score initially remained unchanged. Barely had the two teams returned to the ice for the final period when the siren sounded again. Konstantin Hutzinger made it 4:1 after just 30 seconds, effectively sealing the result. Zan Spari Leben scored in the 51 minute to make the final score 2:4 from the visitors' perspective.

Head Coach Philipp Pinter: "That was a very good test for us. Slovenia came out of the dressing room very hard, especially in terms of skating. At times early on, we did not find it easy to get out of our zone and did not always find the ideal solution. As the first period went on, we grew increasingly into the game and scored our goals at the right times. The mood within the team is very good. The character and passion are right. Tomorrow, we want to take another step forward. Norway will be an opponent that puts us under a little more pressure."

World Championship preparation

01–05 December 2025, Ferlach

Austria vs. Slovenia 4:2 (2:1, 1:0, 1:1)
Wed, 3 December 2025, 17:00, Ferlach
Austria scorers: Luca Kogler (8 min), Benedikt Krainer (20 min), Paul Schuster (25 min), Konstantin Hutzinger (41 min)
Slovenia scorers: Ian Petronijevič Lepsa (13 min), Zan Špari Leben (51 min)

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

Austria vs. Norway
Thu, 4 December 2025, 16:30, Ferlach

2026 IIHF U20 World Championship Division IA

7–13 December 2025, Bled (SLO)

Slovenia vs. Austria
Sun, 7 December 2025, 16:00

Austria vs. France
Mon, 8 December 2025, 12:30

Austria vs. Norway
Wed, 10 December 2025, 12:30

Austria vs. Ukraine
Thu, 11 December 2025, 12:30

Kazakhstan vs. Austria
Sat, 13 December 2025, 16:00