U20 World Cham­pi­onship: Austria lose 2:4 to Latvia and are rele­gated to Divi­sion IA

The young Austrians went about their work with great focus, determination and discipline. David Reinbacher, who had recently been ill, returned to the line-up, while Thomas Pfarrmaier started in goal. The opening minutes belonged to the red-white-red players, who tested Latvian netminder Patriks Berzins several times and led 5:2 in shots on goal.

But it was the Latvians who were celebrating once again. In the seventh minute, Bogdan Hodass beat Pfarrmaier to make it 1:0. It was the twelfth time in the tournament that the Salzburg native had been beaten, and it would not be the last. Latvia caught the Austrians cold with this goal and now had more of the play. Thomas Pfarrmaier kept his team, who were now pushing forward more themselves and came close to equalising through Vinzenz Rohrer, from falling further behind.

At the start of the second period, Austria seamlessly picked up where they had left off in the final minutes before the break. Ian Scherzer repeatedly found good positions in front of Berzins and created several good chances. More generally, Austria attacked the offensive zone at great speed and put Latvia under pressure in their own end. They also tried to find success from every position when in possession of the puck. The shot statistics in this period, at 13:6, told a clear story.

However, efficiency did too, and it clearly favoured the Baltic side. Latvia turned six shots into two goals, which hit Austria hard. The 2:0 goal in the 37. minute came out of nowhere, just as Austria were pushing for an equaliser. Less than two minutes later, in the 38. minute, Dans Locmelis opened the door wide for his team to remain in the top division by making it 3:0.

Austria did not give up and battled for every inch of ice. But it was Latvia who scored again first, with Sandis Vilmanis making it 4:0 in the 45. minute. Austria's first and only power play shortly afterwards went unused. In the closing stages, Head Coach Kirk Furey risked everything, repeatedly pulling Thomas Pfarrmaier from the ice, and was rewarded. In the 56. minute, Luca Auer scored Austria's first – and long overdue – goal of the game after work by Reinbacher and Rohrer. Just under two minutes later, Finn van Ee made it 2:4, but was sent to the penalty box for two minutes shortly afterwards.

Furey stuck to his tactics, repeatedly bringing on an extra skater for Pfarrmaier when in possession of the puck, but it remained 2:4. Austria lost the best-of-three relegation series against Latvia 0:2 and are relegated to Division IA.

Head Coach Kirk Furey: “That was our best game of the entire tournament. The players showed incredible character and gave everything. I could not be any prouder of them. The most important thing is that the players take the positive things from this World Championship with them: what they learned, the experience they gained, that they learn from what the top teams do, but also from what they themselves showed, and that they take all of that back to their clubs. I would like to thank ÖEHV and KAC for the opportunity to be here. A big thank you also goes to the clubs for releasing the players, as well as to my entire staff, with whom it was great to work. But my biggest thanks go to the players

LIVE.eishockey.at powered by Morawa Digital will show the entire final round, including highlights and LIVE insights, until the end of the U20 World Championship.

2023 IIHF WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP

26 December 2022 - 06 January 2023, Halifax and Moncton (CAN)

Relegation - "Best-of-Three":

AUSTRIA vs. Latvia 2:4 (0:1,0:2,2:1)
Wed, 04 January 2023, 16:00 hrs (Wed, 04 January 2023, 11:00 hrs)
Austria scorers: Luca Auer (55:16 min.), Finn van Ee (57:25 min.)

Latvia vs. AUSTRIA 5:2 (1:2,1:0,3:0)
Mon, 02 January 2023, 15:30 hrs (Mon, 02 January 2023, 10:30 hrs)
Austria scorers: Luca Auer (05:20 min.), Vinzenz Rohrer (17:53 min.)

Final series score: 2:0 to Latvia

Preliminary round – Already played:

Germany vs. AUSTRIA 4:2 (1:0,3:1,0:1)
Fri, 30 December 2022, 22:30 (Fri, 30 December 2022, 17:30)
Austria goalscorers: Ian Scherzer (29:24 min./PP1), Jonas Dobnig (46:00 min.)

AUSTRIA vs. Canada 0:11 (0:3,0:4,0:4)
Fri, 30 December 2022, 00:30 (Thu, 29 December 2022, 19:30)

AUSTRIA vs. Czechia 0:9 (0:3,0:4,0:2)
28 December 2022, 00:30, Halifax

Sweden vs. AUSTRIA 11:0 (2:0,6:0,3:0)
Mon, 26 December 2022, 19:30 (Mon, 26 December 2022, 14:30)

Group A and Group B standings

Knockout stage

Quarter-final 1: Finland vs. Sweden 2:3
02 January 2023, 17:00

Quarter-final 2: Czechia vs. Switzerland 9:1
02 January 2023, 19:30

Quarter-final 3: USA vs. Germany 11:1
02 January 2023, 22:00

Quarter-final 4: Canada vs. Slovakia 4:3 OT
03 January 2023, 00:30

Semi-final 1: Czechia vs. Sweden 2:1 OT
04 January 2023 20:30

Semi-final 2: USA vs. Canada 2:6
05 January 2023, 00:30

Bronze medal game for 3rd place: USA vs Sweden
05 January 2023, 20:30 >> to the livestream

Final: Czechia vs Canada (Commentary by Michael Berger)
06 January 2023, 00:30 >> to the livestream