U20 National Team cele­brates spec­tac­ular over­time win over Latvia

Head Coach Philipp Pinter's team fell behind early in the game against Latvia. Shortly before the end of the first period, Ian Scherzer levelled the score at 1:1. Shortly after the restart, Scherzer struck again on the power play to give Austria the lead for the first time (21nd minute). Latvia turned the game around to 3:2 within a minute, before Johannes Neumann converted a power-play opportunity to level the score at 3:3 (27th minute).

The back-and-forth continued, with Latvia taking the lead again shortly after the halfway mark before Austria equalised once more through Lenz Moosbrugger (46th minute). Latvia were back in front eight and a half minutes from time. However, the ÖEHV selection refused to give in: Johannes Neumann sent the Red-White-Reds into overtime with a power-play goal (59th minute), where Florian Lanziner scored the winner. Austria finished the tournament in third place.

U20 Head Coach Philipp Pinter: "We were clearly second best in the first period and were fortunate to go into the dressing room at 1:1. We also made too many mistakes in the second period and were not disciplined enough overall. It was only in the final period that the players showed the same bite they had in the previous games. We got plenty of pucks to the net and the boys created traffic in front of goal. Although they were constantly chasing the game, they grew together as a team. It was very pleasing for us coaches to see them take the game into overtime, where Lanzinger scored a superb goal for the 6:5 win over a young Latvian side. Our conclusion from the tournament is that we need greater consistency in our game. We have to play in a structured and disciplined manner. We did that well today in the final period and in the two previous games. That also gives us confidence ahead of the World Championship. The boys battled and gave everything. We have a pretty good idea of what the World Championship team will look like and hope everyone stays healthy now."

November Break U20 Men

Four Nations Tournament, Vojens (DEN)

Austria vs. Latvia 6:5 after overtime (1:1,2:3,2:1,1:0)
Sat, 11 November 2023, 16:00
Austria scorers: Ian Scherzer (20th minute, 21th minute/PP1), Johannes Neumann (27th minute/PP1, 59th minute/PP1), Lenz Moosbrugger (46th minute), Florian Lanzinger (64th minute)

Previously played:

Denmark vs. Austria 2:1 (1:1,1:0,0:0)
Fri, 10 November 2023, 19:30, Vojens
Austria scorer: Alexander Rupnik (1st minute)

Norway vs. Austria 2:1 (1:1,1:0,0:0)

Thu, 09 November 2023, 19:30, Vojens

Austria scorer: Ian Scherzer (4th minute)