The U18 tournament in Újpest got underway with the “White” team playing Poland in the early game and the “Red” team facing Ukraine.
“White”-Poland 4-5 OT
András Horváth gave Boldizsár Győri the start, Balázs Tóth was the backup and Martin Szeles had the day off. The first period was back and forth as Poland scored first after Hungary turned the puck over in their own third, and a Polish player was left unmarked in front of the net and put it past Győri. Hungary tied it up on their first power play of the game when Miklós Gyúrgyev took a shot that was saved but Donát Szita put the rebound in for the goal. Poland took back the lead on a carbon copy of their first goal but this time the pass came from the right instead of the left to the unmarked man in front of the net. Again Hungary tied it up minutes later as Bálint Horváth scored an unassisted goal after he skated down the left wing cut in, in front of the net and slipped the puck between the Polish goalies legs. Poland scored late in the period to take a lead into the break when a Polish forward skated down the right wing, faked the pass and beat Győri for the goal. In the second period the back and forth game continued as Hungary tied it up on a sneaky goal by Szita in the first minute of play. Szita looked as if he would dumped the puck in behind the goal but instead he flicked a backhander off the crossbar and in. Again Poland went ahead when Győri was a split second late to cover a loose puck and the Polish player slipped it under him for the goal. Bálint Horváth scored his second of the game to tie it up at 4-4 when Flórián Sándor took a shot from the blueline that he redirected past the keeper and into the back of the net. After a scoreless third period the game went into overtime. With Just over a minute left in overtime Poland scored when the puck bounced off of Máté Kováts’ skate and into the back of the net for the Polish overtime win.
“White” head coach András Horváth: We worked hard and skated a lot but but didn't always stick to the system, be had trouble in front of both nets, and did not battle enough. If we would have worked better in the neutral zone we would have had more pucks which would have let us create more chances.
“Red”-Ukraine 1-4
Szabolcs Fodor gave Dávid Márk Kovács the start in net, Máté Garbacz was the backup and Kristóf Nagy had the day off. Both goalies played well in the first period as neither team was able to score. The goal scoring picked up in the second period when Ukraine scored in the second minute of play just as Hungary had killed a penalty. The game was still balanced but Ukraine went up 2-0 only minutes later. The visitors made it a three goal lead in the closing minute of the period. In the third period the refs were calling penalties on both sides, including a penalty shot for Ukraine that Dávid Márk Kovács saved,Hungary was able to get on the scoreboard in the closing minutes when Dávid Sebestyén took a long shot that made it past the goalie and into the back of the net. Ukraine tacked on an empty net goal when Fodor decided to pull Kovács for the extra attacker.
Hungary Red
Goalies (3): Garbacz Máté (UTE), Kovács Dávid Márk (Langnau), Nagy Kristóf (MAC Budapest)
Defensemen (7): Bálint Tamás (Frankfurt), Bugár Gábor (MAC), Bukor Rajmund (Vasas SC), Dankó Miklós (Miskolci Jegesmedvék), Erdély Botond, Kiss Roland (Fehérvár AV19), Kiss Tamás (Debreceni HK)
Forwards (13): Csíki Attila, Szlépka Armand, Varga Tamás (Vasas SC), Horváth Ákos (UTE), Kedves Richárd, Sebestyén Dávid, Szigeti Ákos, Türmer Gábor (MAC Budapest), Kiss Patrik, Makovics Bence, Tóth Renátó (Fehlérvár VA19), Molnár Dávid (Debreceni HK), Pozsár Márk (Pesterzsébeti HC)
Hungary White
Goalies (3): Győri Boldizsár (MAC Budapest), Szeles Martin (Ifj. Ocskay Gábor JA), Tóth Károly Balázs (EHC Linz)
Defensmen (8): Bán Károly Tibor (Pesterzsébezi HC), Bognár Patrik, Sándors Flórián, Vas Márk (Fehérvár AV19), Kováts Máté (Vasas SC), Molnár András (UTE), Simotics Ferenc (HC Sparta Praha), Tóth Péter (Ontario Hockey Academy)
Forwards (12): Gyurgyev Miklós, Horváth Richárd, Nagy Ákos, Szita Donát (mind Ifj. Ocskay Gábor JA), Korchma Bence, Kreisz Brúnó, Lőczi Árpád, Majoross Barnabás (MAC Budapest), Szalma Zsolt (UTE), Székely-Mádai Gergő (Vasas SC)
Schedule
Dec. 28th, 16:00 White-Poland 4-5 OT
Dec. 28th, 19:00 Red-Ukraine 1-4
Dec. 29th, 09:30 White-Red
Dec. 29th, 17:00 White-Ukraine
Dec. 29th, 20:00 Red-Poland
Dec. 30th, 11:00 3rd place game
Dec. 30th, 14:00 1st place game