After losing to China 3-1 Hungary came back and stood strong against the Netherlands.
Hungary scored first in the opening minutes of the first period when defenseman Bernadett Németh put the puck past Dutch goalie Claudia van Leewen. Hungary outshot Netherlands 14-6 and neither team was able to convert their powerplay chances.
The score remained the same for the rest of the first and throughout the second period where the teams exchanged two minute penalties, but no goals were scored. The game was more evened out in the second period compared to the first twenty minutes.
The last twenty minutes was an action packed period where both teams were fighting for the win. The early part of the period brought a power play opportunity for Hungary that did not produce a goal, with just over five minutes left in the game Németh was called for interference which ended up costing Hungary as Savine Wielenga put a shot past Anikó Németh for the tieing goal.
At 56:46 left in the game Hungary had a chance to score a late goal when the Dutch had a skater sent to the penalty box for kneeing. With eight seconds left on the power play and 82 seconds left in the game Réka Dabasi scored a power play goal that end up being the game winner as well. Holland pulled their goalie for the extra attacker but in the end they came up short.
“We played as a unit everyone was playing at a 100%, we didn’t let the defeat against China affect us. The early goal gave the push that we needed and we were able to play a disciplined game until the end and were able to score a game winner at the end,” said defenceman Dorottya Medgyes after the game
Hungary has Friday off and are back on the ice on Saturday against Kazakhstan for a shot at a silver medal.
Standings
Latvia 12 points
Netherlands 8 points
China 6 points
Hungary 6 points
North Korea 3 points
Kazakhstan 1 point
Leading scorers
Points: 11, Inese Geca-Miljone, Latvia
Goals: 4, Four way tie
Assists: 7, Inese Geca-Miljone, Latvia
Photo: IIHF/Romualds Vambuts