At the previous World Cup, even the elite Hungarian national team entered the ice against the Dutch, who finished in 4th place in the I/A last year, as a clear contender, and after the victory after South Korea, our team started accordingly: they were forced to defend three times in the first two minutes. Eline Gabrielét in the Dutch goal. Moreover, during the middle experiment Alexandra Huszák also passed the puck into the goal, but the referees did not award the goal, saying that they had already stopped the game because of the goalkeeper’s attack.
In the continuation, the Hungarian national team maintained its aggressive, but regular offensive game, and it was almost only a matter of time before it scored in a way that was suitable for the judges – i.e. regularly. It seemed that this endeavor was facilitated by the fact that we had a man advantage after seven minutes of play, but then the Dutch were able to record their first shot – Anikó Németh in the goal, however, took up the work at a good pace. The Hungarian national team still left the first chance unused, but not the second one: in the middle of the third after Taylor Baker’s pass Zsófia Pázmándi he nicely conjured up the pack from the party circle on the left into the long top. Even after taking the lead, the Hungarian advantage remained, and we defended our first man disadvantage, and the third ended with Pázmándi’s position.
The second act started with a warning signal: the Dutch scored a goal, but in the continuation the audience could see many more Hungarian opportunities, Huszák shot next to him, Emma Kreisz’s attempt was saved by Gabriele, and there was a stumbling block when the defenders blocked our attempt. Another Hungarian goal was not scored, and for the first time during the match, in the second half of the third period, first Pázmándi and then Dorottya Gengeliczky, the Dutch, who had the man advantage, squeezed ours, but the girls successfully defended both chances. In this period, Aniko Németh had much more to do than her Dutch colleague, but at the end of the third period, she managed to further increase the advantage: Reka Dabasi dug in the puck that trickled down from the goalkeeper after Huszák’s shot.
The third period started with two Hungarian goals, but during both man advantage, ours only managed to shoot. The missed advantages seemed to have made the girls frustrated, the Dutch absorbed themselves – this is indicated by the fact that, for a women’s game, an unusually fierce push developed after one of Gabriele’s saves in front of the goal, Tyler Baker was treated by three defenders, Kinga Jókai-Szilágyi arrived as a relief army, and amid a shower of f-words, the referees separated the parties. In the middle of the third, Metzler’s Regina Metzler scored the third goal, and the Dutch did not give up the hope of making it even better. Three and a half minutes before the end, Bernadette Németh was sent out by the zebras for two minutes, but the Dutch did not even get a shot, and at the end of the match, Bieke van Nes, who is currently playing at the Budapest Hockey Club, overturned Aniko Németh in the goal, but only the two of them got in. into the cage, the puck didn’t, just like in the last seconds, like that the second match of the Hungarian national team was scored without a goal, it was won by 2-0.
Our team achieved their goals for the first two matches, winning both of their matches, which is commendable, but the use of man advantage should definitely be improved in the continuation, as it is not certain that the many wasted chances will fit against the others.
Continuation on Wednesday against Norway, followed by the hosts Austria on Friday, and finally the French on Saturday. The first two places from the tournament are promoted to the elite, while the last one is relegated to division I/B.
HOCKEY
WOMEN’S DIVISION I/A WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, KLAGENFURT
ROUND 2
HUNGARY-NETHERLANDS 2-0 (1–0, 1–0, 0–0)
Klagenfurt, 712 viewer. A: Hurley (American), Neenan (British), Cameron (American), Schüpbach (Swiss)
HUNGARY: NÉMETH A. – Kiss-Simon (1), Mayer / Márton, Odnoga L. / Németh B., Gengeliczky / BAKER (1) – Jókai-Szilágyi, Kreisz E. (1), Pázmándí 1 / Dabasi 1, Hussies (1), Báhiczki-Tóth / Míra Seregély, Metzler, Mozolai / Gondos, Horváth I., H. Williams / Fehér. Union captain: Pat Cortina
NETHERLANDS: GABRIELE – Hamers, Huisman / Milders, Van Ooijen / Seppenwolde, Hardenbol / Karst – Zwarthoed, Wielenga, Van Nes / Strople, De Jong, Dijkema / Tjin-a-Ton, Barbier, Collard / Visser. Union captain: Marco Kronenburg
Shots on goal: 32–22. Exploitation of human advantage: 5/1 or 5/0
MASTER SCALE
Pat Cortina: – We played better against South Korea, but we fought harder in the second game. We hope we can bring these two components together by our next match. When we had to, we defended well, the man-handicap game worked. At the beginning of the match, we were clearly in the upper hand until our leading goal, and then we seemed to relax too much. I asked the girls to change this, since we haven’t won the match yet. In the second period, the Dutch switched to a much higher gear and the meeting became somewhat hectic. I am satisfied with the result, but as we progress, our work will become more and more difficult.
LATER
16.00: France-Norway
19.30: Austria-South Korea
The job: 1. Hungary 6 points / 2 matches, 2. France 3/1 (5–1), 3. Norway 3/1 (3–2), 4. Austria 0/1 (2–3), 5. South Korea 0/1 (0–2), 6. Netherlands 0/2
SELECTED FURTHER WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP PROGRAM OF HUNGARY
April 24, 12.30: Hungary–Norway (TV: Sports2)
April 26, 20.25: Austria-Hungary
April 27, 4 p.m.: Hungary–France
