The success of Slovak hockey at the very first event of the new season. Our representatives became the winners of the German Cup, after beating Austria (1:0) in the second match of the tournament, they also defeated home country Germany 6:2. The national team will say goodbye to the tournament with a Sunday match against Denmark (at 11:00 a.m.), after which none of the opponents can overtake them in the table.
Photo: TASR, Pavel Neubauer
The joy of Slovak hockey players after one of the goals into the home goal of Germany.
They last triumphed at the traditional November strength test in 2016, last year they were second. It is their fifth championship in the tournament, the first under Craig Ramsay.
The match with Germany was significantly affected by the low-quality ice surface, due to which the duel was interrupted in the first minute and was not played for more than an hour. Problems also arose after the first period, the bumpy ice caused problems for both teams throughout the course. Because of this, the match finally ended more than three and a half hours after the opening goal.
German Cup 2024:
Germany – Slovakia 2:6 (0:1, 1:1, 1:4)
Goals: 29. Schinko (Schmölz), 57. Schmölz (Schütz, Stachowiak) – 17. Takáč (Faško-Rudáš), 25. Korenčík (Cingel), 44. Faško-Rudáš (Takač, Petrovický), 54. Roman (Golian, Stacha ), 56. Ivan (Cehlárik, Pospíšil), 60. Takač. Referees: Björk (Sweden), Kaukokari Finland), Hynek, Ondráček (both Czech Republic), exclusions: 1:2, power plays: 1:1, weakness: 0:0, 4200 spectators.
Germany: Strahlmeier – Gawanke, Kälble, Bittner, Daubner, Sennhenn, Ugbekile, Wagner, Preto – Stachowiak, Schmölz, Schinko – Ehliz, Schütz, Pfaffengut – Krauss, Hager, Schweiger – Loibl, Kühnackl, Bergmann
Slovakia: Tomek – Mudrák, Ivan, Žiak, Korenčík, Golian, Petrovický, Stacha, Romanák – Cehlárik, Cingel, Pospíšil – Faško-Rudáš, Tamáši, Takač, – Buček, Roman, Minárik – Petráš, Čacho, Kašlík
Immediately after the first throw-in, the referee interrupted the duel and there was no play for almost an hour, the ice players had to adjust the grooves in the defensive zone of the Slovaks. After this inconvenience, the Germans had the first chances, Tomek scored the first important saves. The game then became even and Strahlmeier also showed his art.
Interesting hockey continued and in the 17th minute Takač opened the scoring. Faško-Rudáš previously reacted excellently to the puck in the attacking zone, disarmed the goalkeeper and served a selfless pass to his teammate.
The organizers solved the problem with the ice even before the start of the second act, but this time the break was minimal. The home team had the first chance again, Tomek blocked Schütz’s attempt.
Then the Slovaks created pressure in the attacking zone, Pospíšil found Cingel, who immediately found Korenčík, and the defender’s subsequent shot hit the goal – 0:2. The Germans reduced four minutes later after a mistake by Tamáši, Schinko prevailed. Both teams then had chances, but the goalkeepers excelled.
The German players were more active in shooting after two periods (21:15), but the first shot in the third part was sent to the goal by the Slovaks. In the 44th minute, they were already looking forward to a goal, when Faško-Rudaš found his way excellently after Takač’s shot and increased the score to 3:1. The Germans immediately reduced the score, but the referees did not recognize their goal, as it was preceded by a foul on the goalkeeper Tomek.
Roman then increased the lead when he used a great pass from Goliano, and then defender Ivan also scored in a power play after a shot from the blue line. Schmölz still had time to react to this goal, but Takáč had the last word when he closed the score into an empty net.
votes after the match:
Martin Faško-Rudáš, scorer of the third goal of SR: “The long break was difficult, but we told each other all the time that we should be ready to play and we should set our heads for it. As for the ice, it was to be expected, since quite a lot of matches are played here, and they supposedly made a new one before the tournament, so it was already quite worn out. It happens, we are mostly glad that we managed it. To win over the Germans 6:2 at their home is great, we are happy for that. We still have one more job to do, and we have to manage that too, so that we can go home happy.”
Samuel Takáč, in a 2+1 match: “After that long break, there were different sections. It was like that sometimes they had more of the game, sometimes we. But I think in the third period we completely took it on our side and it was a very good performance.”
Marek Korenčík, scorer of the second goal of SR: “It was my first goal in the national team, and they are certainly all the more pleasing when they are associated with victory. So I’m glad I helped the team as well. It was an important goal, after that it was a little easier to play. Even though we let them go 2-1 down right away, but at the end of the day we won by three points and that’s what’s important.”
Source: sportweb.pravda.sk
