Pat Cortina captain’s team won both against the South Koreans and the Dutch 2-0, then lost to the Norwegians in a shootout on Wednesday. Thus, he could expect the continuation on Friday from the third place – this time against the host Austria, which he initially thought was weaker than ours.
The first third started like a dream and ended like a nightmare. Starling Mira took the lead in the third minute with a man advantage, Bernadette Németh and increased the gap in the seventh. However, in the twentieth minute Annika Fazokas beautified, and after 25 seconds Lena Artner equalised, the news agency wrote.
The second period was mainly about defense, the two sides had only nine shots on goal in total, so the goalkeepers had to defend.
The third act brought Hungarian field dominance, but after a serious defensive error, Anikó Németh palmed the puck on the goal line. There could have been a maximum of five minutes of sudden death until the first goal, in which the home team hit the crossbar. In the shootout, only Regina Metzler was effective on the Hungarian side, and two others also scored on the other side.
The Hungarians will meet the French team on Saturday, and they must win in regulation time, i.e. by three points, for promotion, if the Norwegians beat the South Koreans first, based on paper form. The first two places from the tournament are promoted to the elite, while the last place, the Republic of Korea, was relegated to division I/B, noted MTI.
Women’s Ice Hockey, Division I/A World Championship, Round 4
Austria-Hungary 3–2 (2–2, 0–0, 0–0, 0–0), after a shootout
scorers: Fazokas (20th), Artner (20th), and Seregély (3rd), B. Németh (7th)
More results
France-Korea 5-0
Norway-Netherlands 1–0 – after shooting
The job: 1. France 10 points, 2. Norway 9 points, 3. HUNGARY 8, 4. Austria 5, 5. Netherlands 4, 6. (and already eliminated) Republic of Korea 0
Saturday’s program
Norway-Republic of Korea 12.30 p.m
HUNGARY-France 16.00
Austria-Netherlands 20.25
