Day 2 of Floorball at the World Games provided some upsets, hard matches and the battle of North America.
Thailand vs Sweden
Sweden and Thailand kicked things off on day 2 with Sweden taking a 20-1 victory. The Swedes were in control and dictating play throughout, showing their quality and skill. Thailand tried to hit the Swedes on the counter attack and build up momentum themselves but couldn’t get much going in the Swedish zone. Kevin Haglund, Albin Sjogren and Malte Lundmark got hat-tricks for Sweden with 6 other players also getting their names on the scoresheet for the Swedes. Thailand got their only goal of the game from Simon Johansson in the second period.
Match statistics available here.
Finland vs Czech Republic
The matchup between was a tale of 3 periods. The Finns were in control and had the upper hand throughout the 1st and 2nd periods and as a result went into the third period 4-1 up. The Czechs grew into the game and their style in the 3rd period being more aggressive and in control but it was not enough as the Finnish defence limited them to just 2 further goals with leading scorer of the tournament Ville Lastikka adding a Finnish 5th goal in the third period for the final game score of 5-3. Finland secure a semi final spot with their second win of the tournament, with the Czechs needing to beat Canada to secure their place in the semi finals.
Match statistics available here.
Switzerland vs Latvia
The battle of the 4th and 5th ranked nations in the world was a match with swinging momentum. The Latvians started off well with a 2-0 lead in the first 10 minutes before the Swiss charge with 4 straight goals to put them into the lead. Latvia however did not want to give up and made sure that they were here to stay and proved their own quality with a series of great attacking moves and clinical finishing that took them from 2 goals down to 2 goals up. In such a back and forth affair a late major 2+2 penalty against Latvia only resulted in one Swiss goal with a standout performance from Janis Salcevics in net who stopped a multitude of shots late on, with Latvia taking the upset victory 6-5 against Switzerland, leaving them just needing a draw against Thailand to progress to the semi finals of the World Games!
Match statistics available here.
USA vs Canada
The final match of the day was between hosts USA and North American rivals, Canada. A raucous and record crowd (for a floorball match in North America) of both home US fans and Canadian fans (lead by a loud Canadian Men’s Lacrosse team in the stands!) cheered on the teams for this contest set amidst a thunderstorm taking place outside the venue. The match was physical from the outset with both teams having a history in qualification events and international matchups. Canada went into the lead and started the 2nd period with another goal to push the score to 3-0. Even with 1 goal scored the US could not stop the Canadian tide of goals with the score becoming 6-1 in the third period, each Canadian goal punctuated by a formal handshake celebration amongst teammates. 2 quick US goals with 6 minutes to go gave the hosts some hope but it was not enough as the Canadians again proved to be kings of North America with a final score of 9-3. Cameron Buck was the standout man for Canada with a hat-trick.
Match statistics available here.
Find all match replays, highlights and interviews from IFF Youtube Channel 1.
