SOFIA - Today, Sunday April 2, Team Belgium U18 played the fifth and final game of its World Championship campaign at the IIHF Worlds DIV2B in the Bulgarian capital Sofia. The opponent of this fifth game was Australia. The stakes were high, particularly relegation or not.
For Team Belgium it was a must to win this match in order to avoid relegation to DIV3A. It was therefore an exciting nail-biter between teams that were evenly matched.
Australia managed to score halfway through the first period. They succeed again halfway through the second period. At the start of the last period, however, Owen Bernard achieves in bringing the Belgians back into the game, which also gives the team a new boost. Our guys are putting a lot of pressure on the Australian goal. Team Belgium creates a lot of scoring opportunities, but time and time again Australian goalie Rohan Hoy keeps the gates closed and his team in the game.
In the last minute, coach Marc Fransen pulls goalie Tibe Palinckx out of goal for a sixth player, looking for the equalizer to take the game into Overtime. However, the clock is unrelenting. At the final whistle it remains 2-1 for Australia. The Belgians are relegated back to DIV3A.
Final score AUS vs. BEL: 2-1 (1-0; 1-0; 0-1) with a goal from Owen Bernard
MVP Team Belgium Match: #20 Tibe Palinckx
MVP Team Belgium Tournament: #13 Lander Paulissen
Competition Schedule
MON 27/03/2023
15h30: BEL vs. TPE: 3-4
TUE 28/03/2023
19h00: BUL vs. BEL: 4-0
THU 30/03/2023
15h30: CHN vs. BEL: 6-2
SAT 01/04/2023
12:00: BEL vs. NED: 2-4
SUN 02/04/2023
12:00: AUS vs. BEL: 2-1