Spain won the important match against Austria and Norway secured their place in the final round during the fourth WFCQ day in Nitra.
Spain ends their tournament with a victory
Austria and Spain had both proved the strength of their defence in their previous matches. Especially Austria’s 2-4 result against Norway yesterday might have worried the Spanish fans. However, with only one minute played, Spain found an opening and took 1-0 lead. During the first period both teams had several dangerous scoring chances, but Austria took three two-minute penalties which led to two Spanish powerplay goals. After 20 minutes the score was 4-1 to Spain.
Spain’s defence seemed unbreakable during the second period. And what the field players didn’t catch the Spanish goalie, who had played a great tournament, confidently saved. At 14:29 Austria finally decreased the score to 2-5 with a bouncy one-timer. You could see how the game changed in an instant. Suddenly Austria were more in control and only a few minutes later the score was 3-5. If first period was Spain’s, the second was Austria’s. Anything could happen in the third period.
With five minutes played of the third period #9 Antonio Saez Aparicio scored his third goal of the match and increased Spain’s lead to 6-3. Austria were controlling the game, yet Spain’s defence was like a brick wall. They kept blocking the shots and intercepting passes which lead to dangerous counter attacks. Even powerplays didn’t change the situation. Spain won the match 6-3 and took the third place. Now they have to wait and see if their goal difference is enough for the final round.
Norway´s strong victory gets them tickets to Prague
For Norway’s surprise Great Britain were the ones to score the opening goal. Norway’s defender was fooled by #11 Kaj Jones who took his team to 1-0 lead with only 18 seconds played. Norway evened the score a few minutes later and were back on track. After the first period they were already in an 8-1 lead as Great Britain weren’t able to score on powerplay.
In the second period Norway continued their domination. Great Britain simply tried to keep up with the fast Norwegians, but it was too much for them. Also, their two penalties didn’t help. After 40 minutes Norway were already in a 13-1 lead and closer to the final round.
The last 20 minutes weren’t any different. Great Britain were focusing on defending and tried their best with counter attacks whereas the hungry Norwegians continued their efficient play. In the end Norway won the match 21-1 and also got tickets to WFC in Prague.
