ZAGREB – Romania goes undefeated through the 2011 IIHF World Championship Division II Group B in Zagreb, Croatia, to return to Division I after a two-year absence.

Romania, beat hosts Croatia 2-1 in a tightly contested deciding game for the gold medal and promotion to Division I, from a Division II event where Romanian team work prevailed over Croatia's individual skill.

„We came here to win this tournament, and it's a nice experience for me to captain this team in a World Championship for the first time, so I am very happy,“ said Romania's Szabolcs Papp, who capped off a fine tournament when being selected by the directorate as the best defenceman of the tournament.

Croatia, who had come down from Division I, had been pre-tournament favourites together with Romania. The Croats had in a convincing fashion won their first four games beating Iceland (9-0), Bulgaria (17-2), China (5-2) and Ireland (21-4).

Romania, on the other hand, although similarly undefeated, had found themselves in a tough spot during their second game of the tournament versus Iceland, being 2-0 down and facing box plays against them before staging a comeback to win the game 4-2.

Facing each other on the final day in Zagreb with gold medals and promotion for Division I up for grabs, it was Croatia, who started the game in strongest fashion led by the tournament's top three scoring leaders, captain Marko Lovrencic, Borna Rendulic and Dominik Kanaet.

5:46 in to the game Rendulic gave the Croats a well-deserved lead in front of a vocal home crowd in Zagreb's Dom Sportova. The Romanians then worked themselves into the game, and 5:17 into the second period Zsombor Antal forced the puck past 17-year-old croat goaltender Mate Tomljenovic to score a power play goal which tied the game.

Then, 4:49 in the final period, came the winner, when Magor Petres, silenced the home crowd by scoring the winning 2-1 goal for Romania, once again on a power play.

„We knew it was going to be a tight checking game,“ said Romania head coach Tom Skinner. „When Croatia got up to 1-0, it's not what you want, but we knew that if the game we established – which was to create a forecheck and do the things we needed to do to win – then being a goal down wasn't going to be a factor.“

Bronze winners were Iceland, who under Danish head coach OIaf Eller played a disciplined game throughout the tournament and continue to make big strides for a small country. It was a confirmation of last year's first-ever Division II bronze for the Arctic island.

„We are showing in this tournament that we are not letting in any goals against teams like Romania and Croatia when playing at full strength, so we are getting closer and closer,“ said Iceland goaltender Dennis Hedström.

Final Ranking:
1. Romania 15
2. Croatia 12
3. Iceland 9
4. China 6
5. Bulgaria 3
6. Ireland 0

Individual Awards as selected by the Tournament Directorate:
Best Goalkeeper: Mate Tomljenovic, Croatia
Best Defenceman: Szabolcs Papp, Romania
Best Forward: Marko Lovrencic, Croatia

HENRIK MANNINEN