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28th June 2023 - Ondřej Gajdáček

Slovakia U23 triumphs over Switzerland in tournament opener

The oldest category of Slovak players succeeded in their first test. Andrej Straka opened the scoring sheet in the 6th minute with a powerful shot that beat Schnyder. However, that didn't slow the Swiss down, and they were rewarded with an equalizer by Raffael Cioffo. Before the end of the opening period, Slovakia regained the lead once again. Tomáš Štefanka showed a beautiful move as he skillfully maneuvered past the goalkeeper and finished into an open net. In the second fifteen-minute period, the Slovak selection managed to extend their lead by three goals, with Tomáš Štefanka, Dominik Béreš, and Nicolas Jenčuš finding the back of the net. Switzerland only managed to get one more on the scoreboard when Tobias Rohdewald brilliantly cut in front of the goal and didn't give Fedor a chance. The Slovaks secured the win thanks to a rock-solid defense while maintaining pressure mainly through counter-attacks and outnumbered rushes.

Svijanska Arena 2

5-2
(2:1, 3:1, 0:0)

Slovakia U23 - Switzerland U23

Penalties
5:4
PPG
2:0
SHG
0:0
Shots on goal
25:13

Goals and assists

6. Straka (Hryzák, Korbáš), 14. Štefanka (Kolenčík, Korbáš), 19. Štefanka (Muráň), 24. Béreš (Štefanka), 30. Jenčuš (Kaščák, Longauer) – 9. Cioffo (Vaucher), 30. Rohdewald (Wehrli)

Referees

Michael Vitello, Trevor Jarvis

Official game sheet

Slovakia U23

Fedor (Richter, Balogáč) – Černák, Gajdos (A), Jenčuš, Kaščák (C), Solník, Muráň, Cifranič, Horváth, Lopušan – Korbáš, Pisarovič, Prna, Kolenčík, Longauer, Hryzák, Straka, Tomkovič, Polák, Zummer, Béreš, Čirč (A), Štefanka

Switzerland U23

Schnyder (Chakroun, Jörg) – Fund, Iten (C), Wegmüller, Eberle, Räss, Büschi, Naga, Penzenstadler – Rohdewald, Cremer, Cioffo (A), Mballa, Vaucher, Fairclough, Tschamper, Bütikofer, Müller, Wehrli (A), Kapanek, Enzler, Lüthi

COACHES´ REACTIONS

Marián Longauer (SVK): „We started the game unfocused. It's like we got on the wrong bus that's taking us to a different stop. Luckily, the boys realized that you can get off the bus. They started to play their game and scored some nice goals. We made some mistakes that cost us, but we're glad we pulled it off.“

Tibor Kapanek (SUI): „We had too much respect for the Slovaks. I think nervousness played a role. You can see that we haven't been on any international level for a long time. For a lot of players it was the first contact with such hockey. The start was not bad, but unfortunately we got unlucky goals. We are not satisfied with the result, but we can still improve.“

Photogallery