The German U20 national team lost its first World Cup preparation match on Thursday. The team of U20 national coach Tobias Abstreiter lost 1:3 (0:2, 0:1, 1:0) to Slovakia at the Eastlink Centre in Charlottetown. For the German DEBEdwin Tropmann scored in the final section after preparatory work by Julius Sumpf.
The DEBThe German team started with commitment and dominated the game in the first ten minutes. The German team put more and more pressure on the goal of Slovakian goalie Alan Lendak, until in the 12th and 13th minutes two German players, Maxim Schäfer and Tobias Schwarz, had to sit in the penalty box. Slovakia took advantage of the double power play and took the lead just 29 seconds after the second German penalty with a wrist shot from Jakub Chromiak. Three minutes later, Miroslav Satan increased the Slovakian lead to two goals.
The German team started the middle period with a power play situation of its own, as Slovakia had a penalty from the final minute of the first period. Germany again applied a lot of pressure, but remained goalless in this and two other power play situations in the second period. The Slovakians even extended their lead - Jan Chovan scored after an individual effort to make it 3-0. DEBThe German team used the fourth power play in the final period to score a 1:3 goal. Captain Edwin Tropmann scored with a hidden shot in the 46th minute after preparatory work by Julius Sumpf. Ultimately, despite further scoring opportunities, the German team was unable to score any more goals and ultimately lost 1:3 to Slovakia.
Both teams will face each other again on Sunday (19pm German time). Before that, both teams will change locations – from Charlottetown, the DEBselection will travel to Moncton tomorrow, where the second World Cup warm-up match will take place.
U20-National coach Tobias Abstreiter: "We started the game well and did what we had planned. But then we brought the Slovaks into the game with the penalties and the goal we conceded. We can learn a lot from the game in order to be successful in the future. In particular, we have to maintain our line, no matter what game situations arise. We also want to work on converting opportunities, becoming more effective and at the same time improving our tackling."
The schedule of the World Cup preparation of the U20 national team
12.12.2024 | 00:00 (German time) | Germany – Slovakia 1:3 (0:2, 0:1, 1:0)
15.12.2024 | 19:00 (German time) | Germany – Slovakia
20.12.2024 | 01:00 (German time) | Germany – Kazakhstan
23.12.2024 | 21:00 (German time) | Germany - Sweden