U20 World Cham­pi­onship: Austria beat hosts Hungary with a last-gasp goal!

Austria also started their second World Championship game at the Tüskecsarnok against hosts Hungary with first-choice netminder Benedikt Oschgan.

The opening minutes were bizarre, with Austria playing almost continuously shorthanded, including one minute at a 3:5 disadvantage. Late in that spell, Hungary made their numerical advantage count as László Farkas sent the puck into the middle and David Cernik deflected it into his own net for 0:1, leaving netminder Oschgan with no chance (6th min).

Immediately afterwards, the red-white-red side had two power plays, the second of which was even a four-minute man advantage. David Cernik made up perfectly for his “mistake” on the opening goal: the forward was set up perfectly by Gregor Biber and levelled the scores at 1:1 with a well-placed shot (10th min).

After almost ten minutes dominated by special teams, a fast, evenly matched five-on-five contest developed on the ice, with play swinging back and forth. The shots on goal also reflected the balance of the game, with the ÖEHV side narrowly ahead 11:9.

Hungary came out of the dressing room aggressively and were the better side in the opening minutes of the second period, with the hosts repeatedly able to establish themselves in Austria’s defensive zone. Austria’s players were primarily occupied with defensive duties, while little was happening offensively during this phase. However, Hungary were unable to turn their dominance into anything tangible.

Almost out of nowhere, Austria made it 2:1: Ian Scherzer won the puck behind the net and fed it perfectly into the slot, where David Cernik was waiting to score from close range for the second time that evening (32nd min). Towards the end of the middle period, the ÖEHV side took a penalty and Hungary made their power play count: Bendegúz Dobos sent the puck home for 2:2 (39th min).

The opening minutes of the final period belonged to Austria, who now went about their work boldly and were more precise offensively once again. However, Hungary also continued to create dangerous moments. Unfortunately, Austria were unable to capitalise on a power play during this phase. The match increasingly became a test of nerve. Head Coach Philipp Pinter’s team continued to play more aggressively and showed greater skating intensity.

Winning goal 49 seconds from time

Then came crunch time, with both teams chasing the three points. Just as everyone in the arena was expecting overtime, Austria struck: Gregor Biber hammered the puck into the top corner 49 seconds before the final buzzer (60th min) to make it 3:2 for the red-white-red side. Hungary pulled their netminder, but could not find an equaliser. Austria celebrated their second win in their second World Championship game. Netminder Benedikt Oschgan was named Austria’s Player of the Game.

Head Coach Philipp Pinter analysed the match shortly after the final buzzer: “That was a photo finish, a real battling win. Of course, this was not the start to the game that we had wanted; we found it incredibly difficult to get into the match and took silly penalties. We did not play well in the first two periods, finding neither rhythm nor control. But we fought our way back through hard work, team spirit and the necessary bit of luck. The third period was very pleasing again; we stuck to our game and had significantly more of the play. And, of course, it is fortunate to score the winner so shortly before the end. We are absolutely delighted! For more than 40 minutes, this was not the ice hockey we had hoped for. But we have already put the game behind us, taken the next step, and our most important World Championship game awaits us against Denmark on Wednesday!”

Following a rest day on Tuesday, the ÖEHV side are back in action on Wednesday at 19:30 - live on LIVE.eishockey.at - when they face Denmark, who lost 4:6 to France on the opening day and, after taking the lead against Kazakhstan in their second game, eventually lost 2:3. In the first game of the second matchday, France trailed Japan 2:3 for a long time before eventually turning the game around to win 5:3.

2024 IIHF Ice Hockey U20 World Championship Division IA

Austria vs. Hungary 3:2 (1:1,1:1,1:0)
Mon., 11 December 2023, 19:30
Austria scorers: David Cernik (10th min/PP1, 32nd min), Gregor Biber (60th min)
Hungary scorers: László Farkas (6th min/PP1), Bendegúz Dobos (39th min/PP1)

Further fixtures:

Austria vs. Denmark
Wed, 13 December 2023, 19:30, live on LIVE.eishockey.at

France vs. Austria
Thu, 14 December 2023, 16:00, live on LIVE.eishockey.at

Austria vs. Kazakhstan
Sat, 16 December 2023, 19:30, live on LIVE.eishockey.at

Already played:

Japan vs. Austria 2:5 (1:2,0:3,1:0)
Sun, 10 December 2023, 19:30
Japan goalscorers: Tyler Serino Maxner (20), Taisetsu Ushio (59)
Austria goalscorers: Ian Scherzer (9'/PP1), Jakob Lippitsch (18'), Luca Erne (35'), Paul Reiner (37'), Jonas Dobnig (38')

Further information, standings and statistics on the official IIHF website