The U18 tournament in Újpest came to a close on Wednesday with the Whites facing Poland for the bronze and the Reds play Ukraine for the gold.
Whites-Poland 3-4
Martine Szeles was the starting goalie with Boldizsár Győri as the backup for the day. Ákos Nagy set up Bálint Horváth for the power play goal to give Hungary the lead. The special teams was a key part in the first period as Poland scored the next goals on the man advantage. First on a simple power play and they they took the lead on a 5 on 3. In the second period Poland took a two goal lead on a goal by Ernst Bochnak. In the third period Hungary came back within one when Donát Szita set up Barnabás Majoross for the power play goal, later in the period it was Majoross assisting on a Zsolt Szalma goal to tie the game up. However with just under five minutes left in the game Poland scored their third power play goal of the game to win the bronze medal.
Whites coach András Horváth: We started well but we did not play disciplined in the first period, the opponents took advantage of this, we were a bit lost in the second period but we were able to get past this. In the last part of the game we did everything that we wanted to. I am very happy that the guys were able to get back into the game.
Reds-Ukraine 5-3
The Reds had Kristóf Nagy starting in net with Dávid Márk Kovács serving as the backup. Ukraine scored first on a nice two on one when Nagy could not make it across the crease in time. Hungary took advantage of their first power play of the day when Patrik Kiss skated into open space took a pass and flipped it past the Ukrainian keeper. Less than a minute later Ukraine was back up again, but just like after the first Ukraine goal Kiss tied it back up. The Hungarian power play had expired but the play was still in the Ukraine end when Kiss took a fee from the corner and faked out the goalie for the goal. Kiss completed his natural hat trick with a blistering rocket from the left faceoff circle. In the middle twenty minutes the two teams exchanged goals as Ukraine tied it up when the two teams were playing 4 on 4 when a shot trickled through Nagy for the goal. Richárd Kedves tied it up when he took a feed from behind the net and put the puck high glove side as Hungary took back the lead. In the third period Hungary took a two goal lead when Dávid Sebestyén stuffed home a puck on the power play.
Reds coach Szabolcs Fodor: I told them to enjoy playing in the finals like a tournament like this. I think our power play went great, the most important aspect was that the guys became a real team during the these four days. This is a great step for us to see 46 players all in one place and will help us with preparing for the world championships in the spring.
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 4-5 OT
Dec. 29th, 17:00 White-Ukraine 9-3
Dec. 29th, 20:00 Red-Poland 3-2
Dec. 30th, 11:00 Poland-Whites 4-3
Dec. 30th, 14:00 Ukraine-Reds 3-5