Emotions, comeback, late equalizer! Canada U23 edged Switzerland in heated battle

The Canadian and Swiss U23 teams played arguably the best game of the tournament yet! A tightly contested start saw Tobias Rohdewald score from the blue line, giving Switzerland an early lead. Kelly had a chance to clear the ball into the empty net during a power play, but he missed the target, and Nicolas Wehrli capitalized on a quick counter-attack at the other end. Shortly after, the Swiss lead was cut in half as Cole Wyatt finished a precise combination with a shot from the slot. Brent Broaders then leveled the score as he was the quickest to get to the rebound. And when Jack Oleksiuk completed the comeback with a well-placed shot to the right post, the Canadian bench erupted in joy. That didn't last long, however, as Max Müller equalized once again just before the second intermission. Jacob Kelly's goal sent Canada up by one again, but it also resulted in very heated arguments between Kelly, Nathan Smilsky, and the Swiss. No love was lost between Smilsky and Swiss fans either. The plot was about to thicken even more as Nicolas Wehrli equalized with just three seconds left! The game had to be decided in the shoot-out, in which Damian Richards sealed the win for Canada.

Svijanska Arena 1

5-4 (SO)

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

Canada U23 - Switzerland U23

Penalties

6:6

PPG

2:1

SHG

0:1

Shots on goal

26:24

Goals and assists

19. Wyatt (N. Smilsky, Maher), 26. Broaders (Maher, Rawji), 28. Oleksiuk (N. Smilsky, Kelly), 41. Kelly (N. Smilsky, Richards), rozh. náj. Richards – 11. Rohdewald (Mbala, Cioffo), 17. Wehrli, 30. Müller (Rohdewald), 45. Wehrli (Cioffo)

Referees

Gráca, Zbořil

Official game sheet

Canada U23

Allin (17. Petrelli) – Granitto, N. Smilsky, Fenwick, Battaglia, Maher (C), M. Smilsky, Burke, Dosanjh, Sahota (A) – Keough (A), Broaders, Gosse, Lock, Neilson, Oleksiuk, Richards, Wyatt, Robinson, Kelly, Rawji

Switzerland U23

Schnyder (50. Chakroun) – Fund, Iten (C), Wegmüller, Eberle, Räss, Büschi, Naga, Penzenstadler – Rohdewald, Cremer, Cioffo (A), Mballa, Vaucher, Fairlclough, Tschamper, Bütikofer, Müller, Wehrli (A), Kapanek, Enzler, Lüthi

COACHES´ REACTIONS

Dave Weloy (CAN): "I have to praise my players. They were losing and didn't give up. I also have to give credit to the Swiss because they have come a long way in recent years. We played against them years ago, and since then, they have done a fantastic job. We are staying focused on our goal, which is the gold medal."

Tibor Kapánek (SUI): "We were just a little bit short of a point yesterday. This time, we secured it with a goal three seconds before the end, which only shows how our players fight until the very end. Not a single unsporting moment got the better of us, even when the Canadian player ran to celebrate the goal in front of our bench. I understand emotions, but they shouldn't be expressed in that way. In overtime, I believe we were actually better. Shootouts are a lottery, but even though it didn't work out, I take my hat off to the players. The guys proved that we can compete even against nations like the Czechs or Canadians."