The third game at the U20 World Cup brings that DEB-Team the next threesome. The U20 team won 3-2 against our neighbors from Switzerland. This means third place in Group B and participation in the quarter-finals is secured.
International matches against Switzerland always have a special meaning. That's how it was today in the third tournament game in Edmonton. Already in the first third, U20 national coach Tobias Abstreiter's team laid the foundation for their second victory at the Junior World Championship and used the momentum from the win against Austria on Wednesday evening. After just under three minutes, Germany had its first outnumbered situation in which there were good opportunities. Haakon Hänelt had the best, with the disc falling at his feet after a shot from Alexander Blank. But the Swiss were able to save again just before the line and thus neutralize Germany's dangerous power play. Swiss goalie Kevin Pasch was unable to stop a beautifully executed counterattack in the 6th minute of the game: Bennet Rossmy from the Gatineau Olympiques took the perfect shot and took the lead. And that DEBteam was able to follow up. By persistently disrupting the Swiss' game structure, the German players repeatedly forced their opponents to make mistakes. Ultimately, the beneficiary was Thomas Heigl's turn, who was able to shoot the puck into the empty goal after such a forecheck (9th). The first test for Florian Bugl, who started in goal again today, came in the 12th minute when Joel Henry failed to hit Bugl's shoulder. Simon Knak scored the 2-1 goal - 8,8 seconds before the first siren - through a counterattack.
After the break, it took until the 26th minute until there was another significant chance. Yannick Proske had the 3-1 on his stick, but Kevin Pasch saved Switzerland from conceding a third goal by directing the puck onto the post at the last second. But in the 37th minute he was powerless: Haakon Hänelt took advantage of a counterattack to score his first goal of the tournament. The score went into the second break 3-1.
The 3:2 by Jonas Taibel in the 52nd minute made the game exciting again. The Swiss took advantage of the final phase and put a lot of pressure on. But the sixth man didn't bring anything to the Confederates either. And so Florian Bugl secured his second tournament victory in a row and qualification for the quarter-finals!
In the next game against the team from Sweden on Monday evening (local time) the DEB-Team even has a chance of second place in Group B and an even better starting position for the quarter-finals. Markus Schweiger was the player of the day.
Voices about the game:
U20 national coach Tobias Abstreiter: “We played the game very well for long stretches, but then we had a few phases where we made life a little difficult for ourselves. Still, the good things prevailed. If we want to stand up to Sweden and challenge them, then we have to play consistently over 60 minutes like we did against Switzerland for 50 minutes.”
Striker Haakon Hänelt: “We really put the pressure on as a team, played quickly and took advantage of the chances well. This game today was a strong team performance. I think when we play against the Swedes now that we have to be even more consistent in the defensive zone.”
Striker Bennet Roßmy: “We got off to a good start with the two goals at the start. We played as a team throughout the game, everyone worked for each other and we also shot the targets well. In the end we deserved to leave the ice as winners. Against Sweden we obviously have to correct our mistakes and get the targets out of the boards even better. I think we can play well against Sweden like this.”