BELGRADO - The men's national U20 team played the second match of its World Championship campaign in Division 2 Group B in Serbia's capital Belgrade today, January 15th. Opponent of the day was host country Serbia.
The first period remains uneventful. Both teams are probing each other. However, both Belgians and Serbs manage to set up dangerous actions, but both teams also defend their goal successfully ... until in the 16th minute the home team manages to trick goalie Raeymakers (#1). The Belgians continue to put pressure on the Serbian goal but fail to score the equalizer in this period.
Just 15 seconds into the second period, the Serbs scored again. The home team has smelled blood and increases the pressure on the Belgian goal. Midway through the period, the Serbs score once more. The Belgians create several chances in front of the home team's net, but goalie Korenic (#25/SRB) remains alert.
In the third period, the Belgians grab some penalties and midway through the period the home team can cash in on a power play that allows them to score a fourth time. The 0-4 on the scoreboard eventually remains the final score.
Coach Gil Paelinck: “We could see already before the game that the Serbs were bigger physically but skill wise I think we were pretty close. However, in the game they wanted to defend their goal more than we wanted to score. You could see it in the puck battles. They wanted it more as the host team playing at home. They were a little bit better. I don’t think we played such a bad game. Now it’s a matter of balancing back up and keep our heads up for the next games.”
Final score: EL vs. SRB: 0-4 (0-1; 0-2; 0-1)
Results
14.01.2024 – 12:30 – BEL vs. TPE: 3-1
15.01.2024 – 19:30 – BEL vs. SRB: 0-4
17.01.2024 – 12:30 – BEL vs. AUS
18.01.2024 – 16:00 – ISL vs. BEL
20.01.2024 – 12:30 – ROU vs. BEL