For the second time in three years under the leadership of Tyler Dietrich the U20 team of Fehérvár AV19 has captured the U20 championship in Austria in a two game sweep of EC RedBull Salzburg.
Fehérvár ran through the regular season with 40 win 3 OT wins and 1 OT loss, this was followed up by a two game sweep of Linz and did not lose a regulation game until they took on Ljubljana in the semifinals. After making it to the finals they took on the hockey machine from Salzburg.
Fehérvár AV19-EC RedBull Salzburg 4-2
The game was not the prettiest sight as both teams were making mistakes, however it was easy to see that both teams were fighting hard and it was a playoff game. Salzburg took a 1-0 lead halfway the through the first period, however late in the period they took a penalty on which Fehérvár was able to capitalize on. Benjámin Nemes redirected a shot in the last second of the period to tie the game up at 1-1. In the second period Salzburg was able to put a second puck past Dániel Kornakker to go back up by one. Later in the period Volán was able to tie it up when Krisztián Szabó redirected a shot from Attila Rieter to make it 2-2, Salzburg was not able to muster a strong attack the rest of the game, however Fehérvár struggled at time to take advantage of this. In the third period the puck did not leave the Salzburg zone too often, with this Fehérvár could score twice in the third both Dániel Szabó and Ferenc Kocsis found the back of the net.
Tyler Dietrich-”We started off a little tense but we got better as the game went on. I was really impressed with the ability to fight back from giving up the lead twice. We had huge efforts from all through the lineup and really earned the win.”
Benjámin Nemes-”It was a good game against a good opponent, and they started better in the first period, slowly we ground them down and they became more frustrated. They were unable to score goals and we started to pressure them from which we were able to score goals. Our coaches did a great job of scouting them, we were prepared for what to expect against them”
EC RedBull Salzburg-Fehérvár AV19 1-3
With a win in game two Feférvár knew that they would be crowned champions. Coach Dietrich stuck with Kornakker between the pipes for game two. Just like in game one Salzburg had the opening goal of the game but this time around the lead only lasted a couple of minutes as Tamás Sárpátki pulled his team even at 1-1. The second period belonged to Krisztián Szabó as he scored twice to give Fehérvár a two goal lead. Volán was able to shut the door on RedBull thanks to some strong defending and excellent goaltending by Kornakker.
Tyler Dietrch-”Salzburg came out flying and we were on our heels for most of the first period, we got out of the period tied 1-1 and did a great job to refocus in the intermission. The second period we were great and grabbed the lead, the final twenty minutes was amazing with action at both ends. The boys earned every bit of this championship!!"
Krisztián Szabó-”It is good to see that all our hard work was worth it, it was unbelievable as the team worked hard all season. We won't celebrate long as we will be back on the ice for the Hungarian title.”
Fehérvár AV19-EC RedBull Salzburg 4-2
Season recap
Tyler Dietrich-”We set some big goals back in August and we've had full commitment to achieving those. It's been a phenomenal group of guys this season, they're dedicated to getting better every day and put in a huge amount of work. One more goal left to accomplish, and we're excited for the challenge against MAC for the Hungarian Championship.”