Tie in Banska Bystrica, 1 Point each
UMB Hockey team – Diplomats Pressburg 5:5 (2:1, 3:3, 0:1)
University hockey team UMB is primed for playoffs against the last team in the Standings. Diplomats from Pressburg Bratislava wanted to win.
Goals and assists: 14. Ferleťjak, 18. Majling (Ramaj), 22. Kováčik (Plešavský, Ramaj), 33. Majling (Ferleťjak, Indrych), 40. Indrych (Majling, Ferleťjak) – 8. Podgorský, 23. Kraus (Hrabina, Brincko), 28. Podgorský (Kojda), 36. Podgorský (Winkler), 42. Podgorský (Kojda, Kovácsik)
UMB Hockey team: Bezek – Kanda, Prandorfy, Knut, Rešetár, Studený, Ramaj – Indrych, Majling, Plešavský, Primus, Akantis, Máľus, Šándor, Kováčik, Ferleťjak
Diplomats Pressburg: Juraštík – Burian, Karaba, Brincko, Just, Kovácsik, Mucha, Hudcovský, Hanko, Podgorský, Kraus, Studený, Porupčan, Hegely, Hrabina, Kojda, Winkler
The game started with quite ineffective play from the both teams. The UMB team was not so dominant as in their previous games. This proved to be a factor in this game. The visiting team opened the score in the 8th minute after Podgorský’s accurate shot. The tying goal came in the 14th minute, when Ferleťák hit the net. The Diplomats played a power-play, during which they yshowed some nice individual plays, however did not come up with a goal. A power-play for the home team at the end of the period ended in a similar manner. However The UMB team manage to exploit a mistake by the defence, Ramaj intercepted a pass, got the puck to Majling, who hit the corner of the net with a nice shot, increasing the lead. After the first period, the score was close, 2:1.
After a nice assist by Plešavský to Kováčik, who was open in front of the net, UMB increased their lead in 22nd minute. The answer came in just a minute, Kraus pulled off a nice individual drive towards the net and managed to score for the Diplomats. The 24Th minute brought a chance to tie the game when Indrych was alone in front of the net, but he failed to deliver a shot. In the 28th minute Podgorský of the Diplomats rushed through the defence and after circling around the scored a beautiful goal and finally tying the game. A minute later, it was the Diplomats on the offence again. The defense outnumbered two to one luckily kept the drive off after some inaccurate passing on the offence. A few shots came in an instant, however the goalie kept his focus and did not let the puck behind his back. The 32nd minute brought a power-play for the home team. They were not able to put any play together at the start, but almost at the end of the advantage it was Majling who hit the net and UMB took the lead again. The UMB team tried to apply pressure on the opposing team and keep them at bay. The strategy proved to be a bit ineffective as in the 35th minute it was the Diplomats who managed to tie the game up. Podgorský hit the net again, scoring his third goal in the game, achieving a hat-trick. In the last minute of the period Indrych from the UMB team scored again, keeping the home team in the lead after the buzzer and before the final period.
Diplomats Pressburg evened the score in the beginning of the final period thanks to a nice shot by Podgorský, who shot lights out, scoring his fourth goal. In 47th minute, the UMB team played a power-play with five players against three, but failed to produce any change to the score. The game was very close and after a missed shot from Pandorfy from the UMB team, the coach called a time-out. His team was on the edge of the sword in these final minutes of the game, as they could win the game as well as loose all the points from this matchup. Two minutes before the final buzzer it was Indrych from the home team who failed to hit the open net, missing the chance to break the tie. Next it was the Diplomats who had a shot that could have decided the outcome, however missing again. The Diplomats had one more chance a few seconds before the buzzer when it was Porupčan in front of the net, missing the shot. The game ended with a final score 5:5. Dividing the points, it was the visiting team who was clearly happier about the final outcome. The UMB Hockey Team dropped to the fifth place in the standings, still clinching a play-off berth.
author: M. Bučko (BBonline.sk)
photo: M. Ližbin (BBonline.sk)
