Hungarian national ice hockey team make history

The Hungarian women’s national ice hockey team concluded the Division 1/A World Championships held in Budapest by beating Austria 2-1. This is the second tier of the World Championship pyramid, and the result means that for the first time in history, the women’s ice hockey team will head to the World Championships next year.

As nemzetisport.hu reported, Hungary started well against Austria as they grabbed a lead 21 seconds into the game: Emma Kreisz passed to Fanni Gasparics who smashed it home past the opposition’s keeper.

This was Gasparics’ sixth goal at this year’s Division 1/A World Championships as she aimed to become the top scorer of the tournament. Prior to the match, she was tied with Austrian Theresa Schafzahl and Hungary’s Averi Nooren on 5.

The Austrian team equalised just before the 5th minute through Anna Meixner, who scored her second goal of this tournament.

Despite the passionate support from the home crowd, Hungary was not able to score again in the first third of the match. Hungary continued to dominate in the second third; however, Austria’s Jessica Ekrt pulled off some fantastic saves to keep the match level. To put Hungary’s dominance into perspective, the Austrian keeper had to make 31 saves throughout the match.

Hungary continued to direct proceedings in the final third just as they did throughout the whole game to try win in front of a sold-out crowd at Vasas Jégcentrum. However, they had to be wary of Austria’s dangerous counter attacks.

Ten minutes before the game, Hungary scored via Bernadett Németh, which proved to be the winner in the tie. Gasparics finished the tournament as top scorer.

This was the most viewed match in the history of the Hungarian women’s national ice hockey team as 1944 fans attended this fixture.

The win means that Hungary is promoted to the 2020 World Championships for the first time in their history, alongside Denmark.

As we reported earlier this month, this was a first of many sporting events taking place in Hungary this year. The Hungarian government is also supporting other niche sports around the country such as rugby to make them more popular.

Feautured image: MTI/Szilárd Koszticsák

Source: nemzetisport.hu