Swiss open tournament with 4-1 win

Press Release

With a pair of 4-1 losses, first against Canada and tonight against Switzerland, Slovakia dropped to 0W-2L at the 2013 IIHF U18 World Championship. 

 

In a battle of two underdogs in the 2013 tournament, it was the Swiss who showed up to play in Sochi’s Shayba Arena. The sense of urgency simply wasn’t there for the Slovaks, who needed a win after dropping their opener to Canada.

On the  hand Switzerland put in a strong effort, jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first period with goals coming from Pius Suter and Jason Fuchs in the first six minutes. The quick goals forced an early timeout call from Slovak head coach Anton Bartanus, but to no avail as the team wasn’t able to capitalize on two successive power plays following the second goal, and  didn’t get on the scoreboard until late in the third period when Patrick Bacika scored on the power play.

Following first intermission, Pius Suter scored his second goal of the game, with Lucca Fazzini coming up with a second assist. Swiss captain Phil Baltisberger assed another to round out the scoring for the Swiss team.

“We got a good start,” said the Best Player of the match, Swiss national team Pius Suter. “We felt confident in our abilities, and that's why we were able to win. Our team don't have the strongest line. Just today, the first line was successful. In other matches, the same thing can happen with other.

 (Nathan can be reached at nathanfournier@mainehockeyjournal.com)