In a reverse of their Pool game, Russia took the honours in the final of the EuroHockey Indoor Junior Championship in Tarnowskie Gory to earn the title of European Champions!
Russia v Austria 5 – 2 (3 – 1)
A perfect start for Russia as EROSHINA (voted the best player at the Tournament) struck home a rocket of a pc in the 1st minute. Austria had a chance to equalise in the 3rd minute but it was saved and batted away by the Russian defence. EROSHINA scored again in the 7th minute to extend the Russian lead. Again Austria had a chance, a strike across the goal but no one was there to connect. CHEPLYGINA put Russian ahead in the 8th minute and Austria clawed one back in the 17th, bringing the score to 3-1 at the break.
A strong defence made it difficult for the Austrians as EROSHINA added another (her 3rd), but HERZOG and CZECH scored for Austria, a perfect pc strike) and it was ‘game on’ at 4-2. A powerplay for Austria pushed Russia all the way to the final moments but a CHEPLYGINA goal in the 39th minute put the game beyond Austria. Final score 5-2 for the Russian Champions!
Earlier in the 3/4th playoff
Turkey v Switzerland 0 – 3 (0 – 1)
Switzerland had the dream start to the bronze medal game as captain FONTANA found herself one on one with the Turkish keeper in the 2nd minute. Even half as Turkey had a great chance to equalise from a pc in the 14th-minute but were denied by the post. The score remained 0-1 at the break.
A stunning piece of skill along the baseline and a strike from the narrowest of margins from INTELMANN saw Switzerland double their lead in the 27th minute.
powerplay from Turkey, but conceded a pc in the 31st minute, a direct strike from STOMPS as the Turks had no chance to defend this.
Speaking to Swiss coach Mathias SCHAEBEN he said “This is a big effort from the whole team. The team is younger than 2 years ago when we narrowly missed out on a medal. This really is a great effort for Swiss hockey. This is such a lovely team to work with, some really fun characters!” Speaking about his keeper Ursina FAZIS “We know we have some of the best keepers at this age. It is so great for a team to have a ‘brick wall’ in the goal.”
Final Ranking:
- Russia (Champions)
- Austria
- Switzerland
- Turkey
- Belarus
- Poland
- Czech Republic
- Ukraine
Best Player: Svetlana EROSHINA (RUS)
Top Goalscorer: Svetlana EROSHINA (RUS)
Best Goalkeeper: Ursina FAZIS (SUI)