MISKOLC – Group B of the second round of the Continental Cup took place this past weekend in Miskolc, Hungary, where Acroni Jesenice, C.H. Jaca and HK Mogo Riga were joined by host team Miskolci Jegesmedvek, with the winner moving on to Group D in Asiago Italy.
All three days during the weekend in Miskolc brought exciting games to the hockey fans of the city as people went out to not only see their team play but to catch the early game as well. But the host team would have to settle for second place, after Riga ran the table and won all three of its games to advance.
“We really deserved the win and we were the better team, I have to thank the team for a great third period.” said Riga head coach Olegs Sorokins after his team won their third game in three days with a 4-1 win over Jesenice.
Miks Lipsbergs came up big in the Group B-clinching game as he finished with two goals and an assist. After Jesenice took the early lead the right winger scored the tying goal in the first period and set up the go ahead goal in the second period.
Thanks to netminder Henrijs Ancs, the Latvian champions gained momentum right from the opening night, a 2-1 win against the host team Miskolci. After a scoreless first period the hometown team took the lead on a Kalvin Sagert power play goal, however Riga flipped the score before the period was out.
Edgars Kurmis scored minutes after the Sagert goal and defenseman Andrejis Lavrenovs scored a power play goal from the slot. Both coaches, Peter Mayer from Miskolci and Sorkins credited Ancs, who stopped 40 out of 41 shots, as the difference-maker.
On Saturday there was some unexpected excitement as C.H. Jaca looked to upset Mogo Riga. In just a 22 second span in the opening minutes of the first period Gaston Gonzalez had scored twice. Deep into the second period Jaca still held a 3-2 lead, but in the final two minute of the second period Riga scored twice to take a 4-3 lead into the last twenty minutes. In the end Jaca could not come back and Mogo Riga held on for a 6-3 win.
Miskolci knew that to advance to the next round their Saturday night game against HDD Jesenice was a must-win game. The two teams were all tied up at 1-1 as they headed deep into the second period Roland Hajos scored in the last two minutes of the period. Andrej Zidan scored his second of the night to make it 2-2 for Jesenice, but Miskolci buckled down and pulled even when a heads-up play by Adrian Toth led to a Balaz Goz score on the rebound. Miskolci would go up by two goals late in the period but Jesenice scored again to set the final at 4-3.
On the final day if Jesenice beat Riga, then it would all come down to the Miskolc-Jaca match, but Riga took care of business and the home team put on a goal festival for their fans as they beat Jaca 10-2.
“We didn't come here as winners right away, we knew that it was going to be hard fought games. I actually think that the schedule was in our favor as we only really had three forward units.” said Sorkins, “We started with the strong home team, which was followed up by a slightly weaker Spanish club, and on the third day we had more rest than Jesenice. It will be really hard in the next round, but we will work through our tactics, the games always start at 0-0.”
In Group D Mogo Riga will be playing Herning Blue Fox from Denmark, Yertis Pavlodar from Kazakhstan, along with the host team Asiago in Italy on the weekend of November 20-22.
Click here for Group B scores and statisticsSZABOLCS ZAVODSZKY
