In a spectacular duel between goalkeepers in a penalty shootout, it’s finally Switzerland who triumphed by the score of 4-3 once morest Slovakia. It was Rodwin Dionicio who played the heroes in the 10th round of shootout.
Switzerland, guaranteed to finish fourth in Group B despite this victory, however deprives Slovakia of a possible first position. The Slovaks finish third in their group following the American victory over Finland.
Canadiens prospect Filip Mesar had two assists to bring his total to five points in four games since the start of the tournament. He also hit the target during the shootout.
Slovakia hinted they had big ambitions early in the game. After a little over four minutes of play, Adam Sykora opened the scoring with a return in front of the net.
The Swiss reply came from Liekit Reichle’s stick following just 67 seconds into the second period. Reichle fired a good shot from the front end to tie the game at 1-1.
Then at the end of the second period, Slovakia came back with two goals to take the lead following 40 minutes of play. Servac Petrovsky first accepted a nice pass from Libor Nemec to escape and score with a superb feint. Mesar picked up his first assist on the game.
Just 49 seconds later, Mesar fed Petrovsky nicely, who scored with a good wrist shot to double Slovakia’s lead.
Switzerland, however, refused to give up and took control of the third period. After just over two minutes, Liekit Reichel drew the pressure on him, before returning to Mischa Ramel who scored with a precise shot into the top of the net.
Then halfway through the period, Swiss striker Lorenzo Canonica completed a brilliant play with Attilio Biasca and Louis Robin to tie the game.
The Slovaks tried to score with several good chances late in the game, but Switzerland resisted and extra time was needed.
Switzerland got a golden opportunity to score when Simon Nemec took a penalty in extra time, but the Swiss were unable to take advantage of it.
Swiss goalkeeper Kevin Pasche stopped 29 shots in the victory, while his vis-à-vis Adam Gajan blocked 32 of 35 shots aimed at him.
