Gladiators Trencin won the playoffs of the EUHL
Trencin did not lose any game in the series against UK Praha and celebrated winning the Sekeras trophy. Gladiators used their second participation in the finals for the historically first title in this competition.
Gladiators Trencin did not find any concurrency in the current season of the EUHL. Firstly, Trencin won the regular season by an eight-point difference before the second team UK Praha, which challenged later in the final series. Trencin and Praha reserved their spots directly in the semi-finals due to their standings in the first part of the season. The Slovak team did not have any trouble there and won 2-0 in the series against UMB Hockey team Banska Bystrica. UK Praha qualified to the finals similarly after beating polish UHT Sabers Oswiecim 2-0.
The top of the season was the final series between the two best teams of the current year of the EUHL. Trencin started the first match of the series for the three winning games at the home stadium. The beginning did not bring a lot of drama and both teams played carefully, no one wanted to make any bigger mistakes which led to the fact that there was no two goals difference during the whole match. The home university went into the lead, but the score was equaled in less than ninety seconds. Praha turned the score of the match, but Trencin responded with two goals. The Czech team tied the game three minutes before the end. It seemed we were going to watch overtime, but Smolka scored his second goal 32 seconds before the final buzzer and Gladiators took the lead in the series.
Gladiators Trencin – UK Praha 4-3 (2-2, 1-0, 1-1)
Goals: Smolka (2), Simko, Skvarka – Simacek, Krepelka, Kopica.
Goaltenders: Pales – Kinsky.
The second match was clearer than the first one when Trencin was winning from the third minute until the end of the game. The effectiveness was the key factor in the statistically equal match. Praguers could not score for a long time and their first goal came in the 56th minute. They also added the second one, but there was no time left for other opportunities. Trencin with the second point in the finals.
Gladiators Trencin – UK Praha 4-2 (1-0, 3-0, 0-2)
Goals: Svancara (2), Smolka, Pataky – Simacek, Krajicek.
Goaltenders: Dusak – Yildirim.
UK Praha had to win this game if this university wanted to keep hope for the Sekeras trophy. The opening period did not bring any goals. Trencin scored three times in the middle part and added one more goal in the last period. Nevertheless, the home team had more shots on goal than its opponent (33:20), Trencin was more efficient again.
UK Praha – Gladiators Trencin 0-4 (0-0, 0-3, 0-1)
Goals: Trencan, Pataky, Simko, Huna.
Goaltenders: Yildirim – Dusak.
Series: 0-3
Gladiators Trencin reached the premiere title in the EUHL on the second attempt. The Slovak team failed in the golden game against UMB Hockey team Banska Bystrica in the finals of the season 2018/2019. Trencin has become only the third team in history to win this competition.
Winners:
4 – UK Praha
2 – UMB Hockey team Banska Bystrica
1 – Gladiators Trencin
The author of the photos: Facebook Gladiators Trenčín
