The group stage at the inaugural Ultimate Hockey 3x3 Breaking the Ice Tour in Innsbruck, Austria, is complete and Sunday’s playoff matchups are set.
Hungary won a very tight Group A, finishing one point ahead of second-place Estonia, who in turn finished one point ahead of Germany. Great Britain ran away with Group B with four straight wins but the fight for second place went right down to the wire in the last game, with Hungary edging out host Austria by a point.
As a result the semi-final matchups feature Hungary against the Netherlands and Great Britain taking on Estonia, while Germany and Austria will face off for fifth and sixth places (scroll down for Sunday's schedule).
An interesting phenomenon on Day 2 was improved defence all around and fewer goals: 72 compared on 87 on Friday in the same number of games.
Despite finishing third in their group, the Germans have three of the tournament’s top five scorers so far – Sebastian Streu leads with 13 points, followed by Moritz Wirth and Great Britain’s John Curran with 11. Louis Brune and the Netherlands’ Guus van Nes have 10 points each.
Among goaltenders, Hungary’s Levente Hegendus continues to lead with a save percentage of 84.85, followed closely by Germany’s Rihards Babulis at 84.72. With all 12 goalies having played 48 minutes, Babulis leads everyone with 50 saves.
Germany 3 – Estonia 5 (2-5, 1-0) – Group A
After dropping their opener, the Estonians responded with two straight wins over Germany. Ricardo Hendreschke opened the scoring for Germany in this one but Estonia responded with five straight goals to lead 5-1 by the eight-minute mark. The game got defensive after that, with Germany scoring twice to close the gap to two, but it got no closer.
Robert Ossipov had two points for Estonia, both assists. Lukas Ribarik had a goal and an assist for Germany.
“The first game was tough – we didn’t know how to play 3-on-3,” Estonia’s Marek Postinok explained after his team’s third game. “But in the second game, we understood what to do and you can see the result – two wins in a row – so we’ll continue with this tempo and everything.”
Austria 6 – Netherlands 10 (3-2, 3-8) – Group B
For the third game in a row, the Austrians led at halftime but were unable to hold it the rest of the way. The Dutch broke out to start the second half, scoring five straight goals in a span of 3:51 and took their second straight win against the hosts after opening with a loss.
Jaidy van Mourik of the Netherlands and Mark Andreas Mussbacher of Austria led their respective teams with two goals and an assist each.
“It’s interesting,” said Guus van Nus, who had two points this game after tallying seven on Friday. “The first game, you have to kinda feel things out a little bit – the rules and everything – but I think we’ve finally got the hang of it and we’re playing better now.”
Estonia 7 – Hungary 10 (5-2, 2-8) – Group A
These two teams met in the opening game of the tournament and Hungary won the rematch as well, but had to come from behind to do it. Estonia scored the game’s first five goals but Hungary replied with eight straight. Estonia becomes the first time to finish its group stage, having won twice and lost twice.
Bence Paterka scored three goals for Hungary and Dominik Nagy had three assists. Maxim Lovkov scored twice for Estonia – the game’s first and last goals.
Netherlands 6 – Great Britain 8 (2-4, 4-4) – Group B
The Netherlands became the second team to finish their group stage, finishing with a 2-2 record, while Great Britain won its third straight game and secured top spot in Group B, regardless of the outcome of the last game. GB had leads of 3-0 and 4-2 but the Dutch wouldn’t quit, once again mounting a second-half comeback to lead 5-4 and 6-5. The British finished up strong, however, to take this game.
Jonathan McBean had three points for GB, Cameron Briere scored twice and Aren Francis scored the game-winning goal with 2:24 remaining. Floris Voonen scored twice for the Netherlands.
Germany 4 – Hungary 4 (3-3, 1-1) – Group A
The tournament’s first tied game was the last one in Group A, and it was enough to give Hungary the group win. After a fast start, in which both teams scored three times in the first 4:23, there was only one goal for each team the rest of the way. With the high stakes, this was probably the most defensive game of the group stage, especially the second half, with Hungary outshooting Germany 27-18 in the game.
All of Germany’s offence came from one unit, with Wirth, Strau and Brune tallying four points each. Natan Vertes scored twice for Hungary.
Great Britain 6 – Austria 3 (1-1, 5-2) – Group B
Great Britain had already clinched top spot in the group but Austria needed to win this game to make the semi-finals and very nearly did it. The Innsbruck crowd erupted when Benjamin Summer gave the Autrians a 3-2 lead with 3:27 remaining. However, the British offence which had been dormant to this point erupted at the end with four goals in a 1:40 span.
John Curran and Briere each recorded hat tricks for GB.
“It’s amazing – the crowd was ready for the game,” said Austrian goalie Kevin Wagner, who stopped 25 of 31 shots in the game. “The fans were crazy. I didn't know so many people would come and they were screaming for us. It was a little bit hot out there, but the game just went and went and in the end, yeah, it’s a tough loss, but it was a great atmosphere.”
Final group stage standings:
Group A: 1. Hungary 8 points, 2. Estonia 7 points, 3. Germany 6 points.
Group B: 1. Great Britain 11 points, 2. Netherlands 5 points, 3. Austria 4 points.
From those standings, the match-ups for the first three games of Sunday’s schedule can now be filled out.
Sunday’s schedule:
10:00 – Placement game (Germany vs Austria)
16:00 – Semi-final (Hungary vs Netherlands)
17:00 – Semi-final (Great Britain vs Estonia)
18:15 – DJ Antoine
19:45 – Bronze medal game (semi-final losers)
21:00 – Gold medal game (semi-final winners)
There are a number of options available for watching the games. Broadcast partners include IIHF.tv, BILD.de, DAZN, wedotv and SportEurope TV, as well as Ultimate Hockey’s own YouTube channel. This ensures that fans around the globe can access the new, dynamic format and follow the Innsbruck premiere live and on demand.
Results and stats
Game schedule and results: https://www.iihf.com/en/static/72583/game_schedule
Standings: https://www.iihf.com/en/static/72584/standings
Team stats: https://www.iihf.com/en/static/72585/team_statistics
Player stats: https://www.iihf.com/en/static/72586/player_statistics
Click here for official website.
Photos: Sebastian Marko
