Ten seconds. That was enough for the Czech gunner Adéla Šapovalivová to score the opening goal. “It’s a great feeling,” she smiled in an interview with hokeki.cz. With a quick goal, she set a new junior championship record. the confusion of the name with Lucia Velinská in a post on the official IIHF Twitter did not spoil the joy either.
Already at the beginning of the 2nd minute, the Czech Republic even jumped to a three-goal lead. “We wanted to make the girls from 2005, for whom this is the last youth event, happy. To simply remember the match. We didn’t want to be under stress and we didn’t want to worry about the result at all,” explained Šapovalivová.
After her second goal, the Slovaks only pulled back from 1:6 to 3:6 in the end. The 14-year-old Slovak comet Nela Lopušanová shone in another incredible event. She ended her own escape with a shot under the crossbar. With a hockey stick between his legs! After the lacrosse goal in the quarterfinals, she added one more beautiful shot. She finished the tournament with nine goals and three assists in five games.
However, it did not change anything about the Czech victory. However, this only slightly eased the bitterness after the quarter-final elimination by Finland. He was also decided by a controversial goal in the final minutes. “For a long time, we didn’t play what we imagined at the championship. We finally showed up in the quarterfinals, but unfortunately it didn’t work out by one stupid goal,” the attacker regretted. “I believe that next time it will be successful,” she added.
Coach Dušan Andrašovský also assessed the tournament for hokej.cz with mixed feelings. “I’m disappointed. We’ve seen what’s in the team. I felt enormous strength and confidence. We arrived here after a twenty-hour journey and everything collapsed like a house of cards. You can’t do anything about it,” the coach alluded to the virus that affected several Czech players. “But I have to laugh at how the girls fought with it. After all, some took antibiotics and went to play the next day,” he continued.
That is also why, according to him, fifth place is about the maximum the team could achieve. “It is important that we say goodbye to the tournament with a feeling of victory. The sadness and disappointment from the quarter-finals was great, but it is already fading away. Hockey life goes on,” added Andrašovský, reconciled.
In addition, the Czech and Slovak participation was given a nice finishing touch by the joint spontaneous action of both teams. The players gathered between the dressing rooms and sang together the well-known Czech-Slovak song Příběh nekončí. It’s just a shame that the sports story didn’t end even better.
