Estonia dominated against Philippines
Estonia and Philippines both started their tournament in Group D on Saturday. Estonia dominated the game from the start, however, Philippines improved their game towards the end.
After 5 minutes Estonia led 2-0 and after the second period the score was 10-2. The third period was more even, but as Estonia’s #87 Tanel Kasenurm – who scored five times – said after the game:
– At the end of the game we made some stupid mistakes and did not defend well enough. We have to improve our performance to the next game.
Emotional game
For the Philippine’s team captain #13 Lucas Öijvall Perez the game was very emotional. On the national level he represents FBC Nyköping in Sweden, and was here more or less “on his own soil”, as he put it.
– This time Estonia was too strong, but we will be better tomorrow against Singapore”, Öijvall Perez concludes.
Estonia will play against Canada tomorrow.
Denmark and Latvia in a thriller
Both teams faced tough losses yesterday and came to today’s match looking to improve. Denmark started strong with two goals, but Latvia then tied the game with back-to-back goals before the first period ended.
Second period was Latvia’s with #88 Rolands Kovalevskis scoring on power play his second of the game, and #61 Kevins Smits giving Latvia a 2-goal lead before the 3rd period.
Denmark didn’t give up, and came strong to the third period. #14 Lukas Eldholm narrowed down Latvia’s lead with his second goal. Although Latvia scored the next goal, Denmark scored twice during the last 5 minutes of the game, tying the game.
Latvia faces Finland next
Rolands Kovalevskis was brutally honest about Latvia’s performance in the beginning of the game, stating that the team was not ready during the first 15 minutes or so.
After Sweden and Denmark, Latvia’s next opponent is home team Finland.
– I feel like Sweden and Finland are the best teams in the world” Kovalevskis starts, and predicts the game against Finland might be even harder than the one against Sweden.
Thailand cruises to an easy win despite a disqualified penalty shot
USA scored the first goal after three minutes of play, but after that it was Thailand’s game. #17 Santipong Sukkasem tied the game four minutes later. Thailand scored once more during the first period and went to intermission with 2-1 lead.
The second period saw two goals by Thailand, as well as a rare disqualified penalty shot by #6 Tnakit Kayairit. USA did not recover from this, and Thailand scored 5 more goals in the third period, making the end result 9-3.
Thailand’s strong performance was topped with a hat trick by #19 Pawat Thaidit.
Team USA hast lost both of its games
Team USA has now two losses and it must eat the team spirit to some extent.
#18 William Eriksson, who plays in the Swedish league, scored twice and was still optimistic:
– I am sure that we will be ready to meet Poland on Monday. Poland has a strong team, but I strongly believe that we will be successful.
Thailand – USA 9-3 (2-1, 2-0, 5-2)
Switzerland made the difference in the third period
Switzerland started strong their Championship games against Norway. #11 Manuel Maurer scored two goals and gave three assists for Switzerland.
Norway and Switzerland played a steady game against each other. Switzerland took a lead at the beginning but Norway squared the game at 4-4 at the end of the second period. Switzerland’s Schiess scored twice in the third period and ensured the victory for Switzerland.
Switzerlands #61 Jan Zaugg had this to say in the post-match interview:
– I guess we are satisfied with the result but not of course with the game we played, there is a lot to improve. But I think that’s what tournaments are all about, to improve throughout the tournament and be at our peak at the end of the tournament.
Norway – Switzerland 5-7 (2-3, 2-1, 1-3)
Slovakia better today against Poland
Poland and Slovakia presented to the audience a pleasant and an eventful floorball match. The best players of the game, #4 Michal Dudovic (SLO) and #5 Wojciech Malajka (POL), were the key players for their teams. Slovakia scored when it had a chance and thus ensured the victory for itself.
Michal Dudovic had this to say after the game:
– It was quite a physical game today but we took advantage of our chances and were good on offense.
Poland – Slovakia 4-8 (1-3, 1-3, 2-2)
Finland beat Sweden on Saturday evening
It’s always expected an exciting when Finland and Sweden play against each other. Today’s match didn’t make an exception. The tough match had some physicality and drama between the old archrivals. Finland was better in the end with #36 Ville Lastikka tallying a hat trick and #9 Eemeli Salin scoring twice. Sweden was as dangerous too as usual, but Finland’s defence succeeded and stopped the dangerous forwards of Sweden today.
The hattrick hero Lastikka said:
– Such a nice atmosphere here in the arena already, we played defensively pretty good and all in all a pretty solid game for us.
In response to being asked about Sweden’s performance on Saturday he said confidently:
– They were pretty similar to what we have seen from them before. Nothing special really.
Finland-Sweden 7-3 (2-1, 1-1, 3-1)