U20 World Cham­pi­onship: Austria cele­brate convincing opening win over Japan

Austria opened their World Championship campaign against Japan at the Tüskecsarnok with Benedikt Oschgan as starting goaltender.

The ÖEHV selection made a strong, aggressive offensive start, registered more shots on goal and used their second power play to take a 1:0 lead: Ian Scherzer beat Japan netminder Issa Tamura (9th minute). Head Coach Philipp Pinter's team continued to play with bite, executing the coaching staff's instructions precisely.

With two and a half minutes remaining in the period, Jakob Lippitsch made it 2:0 for Austria (18). With 12 seconds remaining in the period, Japan scored out of nowhere as Tyler Serino Maxner found the net from close range to make it 1:2 (20).

Little changed in the nature of the game in the second period, with Austria continuing to dominate and repeatedly creating danger in front of the Japanese net. The ÖEHV selection were also repeatedly able to establish themselves in the offensive zone and create chances.

Midway through the game, their intense skating was rewarded and converted into further goals. First, Luca Erne scored from close range on the rebound to make it 3:1 (35nd minute). With their two-goal lead restored, the Austrians, led by captain Luca Auer, were in fine form. Paul Reiner let fly to extend the lead to 4:1 (37th minute). Just 58 seconds later, the puck fell to Jonas Dobnig, who fired home from the left face-off circle to make it 5:1 (38th minute). 

At the start of the final period, Sazaku Kudo replaced starting goaltender Issa Tamura for Japan. Austria now controlled the game, managed the result and varied the tempo intelligently. Japan played some neat hockey, but the defence allowed little, while goaltender Benedikt Oschgan was very secure at the back when called upon.

Shortly before the final buzzer, Taisetsu Ushio did manage to add a consolation goal after an individual effort (59th minute). In the end, Austria beat Japan 5:2 following a convincing performance. Luca Erne – scorer of the goal that made it 3:1 – was named Austria's Player of the Game.

Head Coach Philipp Pinter was highly satisfied with his team after the excellent World Championship start: "That was an incredibly important opening win. The boys dictated the game from the very beginning, they stuck to the game plan for almost the full 60 minutes and played the way we wanted them to. We got a lot of pucks to the net and pinned the Japanese in their own zone very often. We played very disciplined hockey and got them involved in battles, we were always very dangerous in front of goal, deflected shots and were in good positions. Japan scored their goal to make it 1:2 out of nowhere. The game was briefly in the balance in the second period for two or three minutes, when Japan had one or two good chances. But then we scored at the right time in the final minutes of the second period. At 5:1, that was deserved. We also controlled the game and the rhythm of play for long stretches in the final period. In the end, we conceded a silly goal through a lapse in concentration. But that match is behind us; Hungary are a very difficult opponent waiting for us on Monday, and we are taking it step by step!"

On Monday at 19:30, live on LIVE.eishockey.at the ÖEHV selection will make their second World Championship appearance in Budapest. Their opponents will be hosts Hungary, who lost 2:5 to Kazakhstan in the second game of the opening day. France opened the World Championship with a 6:4 win over Denmark.

2024 IIHF Ice Hockey U20 World Championship Division IA

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 matches:

Austria vs. Hungary
Mon, 11 December 2023, 19:30, live on LIVE.eishockey.at

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

Further information, standings and statistics on the official IIHF website