Dramatic first semi-final between Finland and Switzerland ended in Finnish victory. In the exciting last match of the day, Slovakia secured their place in the A-Division by beating Poland.
Denmark – Latvia 5th place 3-7 (0-3, 0-1, 3-3)
Latvia started the match with a goal with only 40 seconds on the clock. At the end of the first period the Latvians had taken a 3-0 lead. In the second period Denmark got their chances as the Latvians suffered three two-minute penalties. For a few seconds, the Danish were playing with 5 against 3, but still the only goal in the second period was scored by Latvia. The first Danish goal was seen in third period, when they scored a penalty shot. The eventful third period was full of special situation goals. In the end, Latvia won the match 7-3 and took the 5th place.
Best players:
DEN #9 Christensen Mikkel Benjamin
LAT #7 Ragovskis Janis
Finland – Switzerland Semi-Final 7-6 (3-1, 0-2, 3-3, 0-1)
Finland were the favourites in the match and after the first period were in a 3-1 lead. In the second period, Switzerland were more efficient and evened the score. The third period was eventful. Finland played passively and fell asleep as Switzerland scored three goals within a minute. It seemed as if the Finns couldn’t survive from this, but they didn’t give up. At 54:23 Finland decreased the score to 4-6 and with 40 seconds left on the clock they had evened the score with playing 6 against 5. It was time for sudden death. With only 47 seconds played of the overtime, Finland scored the winning goal and gave their fans a big smile on their face. They made it to the final with numbers 7-6.
Best players:
FIN #18 Kainulainen Justus
SUI #2 Mock Moritz
Czech Republic – Sweden Semi-Final 4-9 (2-1, 2-4, 0-4)
The first period was controlled by Czech Republic. With their powerplay goal they took a 2-1 lead. In the second period, the Swedes had a lightning start. They evened the score with only six seconds on the clock and more goals were to come. Sweden showed their skills and turned the match. At 27:23, Sweden led the match 5-2. However, before the end of the second period the Czechs had decreased the score to 4-5. Sweden dominated the third period and didn’t leave Czech Republic any chances. Eventually, Sweden won the match 9-4 and gave the local crowd the final they had been wishing for.
Best players:
CZE #10 Juha Josef
SWE #30 Hovlund Oskar
Poland – Slovakia 7th place 8-9 (2-2, 2-3, 4-4)
The stakes were high in the match between Poland and Slovakia. Winner gets to keep their place in the A-Division whereas the loser will relegate to B-Division. The match was even from the start. After 20 minutes the score was 2-2. The eventful second period offered a lot of action, and after 40 minutes Slovakia were leading the match 5-4. In the third period, Slovakia increased their lead to 9-5, but Poland weren’t ready to give up. In two minutes they had decreased the score to 8-9, but in the end Slovakia won the match 9-8 and kept their place in the A-Division.
Best players:
POL #19 Korczak Jakub
SVK #7 Miske Michal
More photos on the IFF Flickr
