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Western Canadians take second win in tournament

29. 6. 2018 | Vojtech Jurak
Gerke’s three-goal performance helped Canada West to overcome Switzerland. His team made the final step towards the second victory in the third period by scoring three goals within 65 seconds.
 

The first minutes of the game belonged to the Swiss players who seemed to be really motivated and made up some good chances. But the goaltender Logan Willcott helped his teammates and saved a few quick shots. The Canadians on the other side scored on their first really dangerous opportunity – Jack Oleksiuk tipped in the ball after his line made chaos in front of the net. The first goal encouraged Canada, so the Swiss players had to face a hard Canadian offensive. But no more goals were scored before the first break in the end.

Early in the second, Canada successfully killed a penalty and scored right afterwards. Mathew Gerke got the ball into a clever position in front of the goal and fired Lukas Jörg. Switzerland kept battling and especially during their power play a few seconds later they really clenched Canada in the attacking zone. But Willcott stayed steady and after killing the penalty, the Canadians scored again. Mathew Gerke made 3–0 with a beautiful top corner.

The Swiss bench took a time out, the coaches cheered their boys up and really – Switzerland almost immediately scored. Manuel Mballa found a tricky rebound in front of goal and sent the ball right into the net. The first success pumped energy into the Swiss players and Willcott had to make a few really good saves. Especially Mballa’s breakaway when playing short-handed late in the period was really dangerous.

Switzerland hoped to tie the game in the third but Canada resolutely denied this scenario by scoring three goals within a minute and five seconds. First, Mathew Gerke completed a hat trick. And right afterwards, Jacob Franken and Luke Prokop made it 6–1. The Canadians finished the game in good mood and two more goals scored by Austin Ungurean and Kaidan Johnson reassured everybody at the stadium that Canada is going to get their second victory in the tournament.

Reactions

Swiss coach: "It is too bad we lost. We played the third game in ěč hours, which is very challenging. Canada was better and fresher.

Canada Coach: "It was a good, hard game. Switzerland plays very well defensively. It is a hockey country and we have respect for them. We enjoyed the game."