On the first day of the Men´s U19 World Floorball Championships in Växjö, Sweden Australia surprised the Germans in the last B-Division match of the day. Estonia, Norway and Hungary also started their tournament with a victory.
Estonia – Canada 12-5 (6-2, 3-0, 3-3)
Estonians started strong and scored three goals within the first 10 minutes. Canada were able to decrease the score to first 3-1 and then to 3-2 with a powerplay goal. After that Estonia scored two goals shorthanded and in the end of the first period led the match already 6-2. When the third period started, Estonia led the match already 9-2. The 3rd period was more even, but in the end Estonia won against the Canadians 12-5.
Best players:
EST #71 Polovnikov Andrei
CAN #18 Robillard Felix
Norway – Japan 14-1 (2-0, 6-0, 6-1)
Japan were the underdog with their ranking being 16, whereas Norway’s ranking is 8. Japan were hanging in there for the first period as Norway scored only two goals. But after 28 minutes the Norwegian dried their powder and started scoring. After the second period the score was already 8-0 for Norway. Japan changed their goalkeeper for the third period, but it didn’t stop Norway. Japan’s first goal was seen at 41:02 when they scored a powerplay goal. Norway won their opening match with clear number: 14-1.
Best players:
NOR #10 Sletten Casper
JPN #21 Nagata Reia
Hungary – USA 10-1 (5-0, 2-0, 3-1)
Hungary were on fire at the start of their match against USA. After only eight minutes, they were already in a 5-0 lead. In the second period the USA got a chance at a powerplay, but it was inefficient whereas Hungary’s #7 Marko Pupek took his team to 7-0 lead at the end of the second period. The first goal by the USA was seen with eight minutes left on the clock. No more goals were seen after that and Hungary celebrated their 10-1 victory.
Best players:
HUN #10 Bondor Csaba
USA #18 Eriksson William
Australia – Germany 3-1 (2-1, 1-0, 0-0)
Germany were the favourites in the match against Australia. Germany’s ranking is 10 and Australia’s is 14. This didn’t stop the Aussies and with almost eight minutes played they took a 2-0 lead. At the end of the first period the score was 2-1 for the Aussies. Germany had a lot of scoring chances, but they missed them. The only goal in the second period was scored by Australia. Australia played smart and defended their net well which is why they started their tournament with a 3-1 win.
Best players:
AUS #9 Salt Jonathan
GER #3 Einecke Bastian
Photos: IFF Flickr
