The Latvian U-18 men’s hockey team lost to Slovakia in the semi-finals of the elite division of the world championship with the result 0:1 (0:0, 0:1, 0:0) in Trenčín on Friday.
In the game for bronze medals on Saturday, the Latvian opponent will be the loser of the match between Sweden and the Czech Republic.
The Latvian U-18 national team entered the top four of the elite division championship for the first time.
Henrijs Upenieks was recognized as the best player in the Latvian national team.
Patriks Plūmiņš saved 21 of 22 shots, but the Latvians shot 14 times.
After the penultimate game, the three best players of the Latvian team during the entire tournament were also announced – Plūmiņš, Olivers Mūrnieks and Martins Klaucāns received awards.
In the first period, the Latvian national team did not have any dangerous moments at the opponent’s goal, but in one of the episodes, Adrian Kļaviņš’s shot hit the tip of the opponent’s goalkeeper’s stick and flew into the goal. Although the Latvians mostly spent the last minutes of the period in their defensive zone, the number of shots in the first half was the same – 7:7.
At the beginning of the second third, Patriks Plūmiņš neutralized the opponents’ shots in several episodes. In the middle of the match, the Latvian national team was in the minority for the first time in the game, in which they successfully defended, and after that, Kristers Obuks made a dangerous shot at the goal of the Slovakian national team unhindered. The Slovaks tried to get the puck to the goal with several shots, and 17 seconds before the break, Michal Jakubecs poked it into the net at the corner of the goal.
At the end of the period, defenseman Tomas Erdmanis-Hermanis raised fists with an opponent, and both were ejected for the rest of the game.
In the fifth minute of the third period, the Latvian national team had the opportunity to play in the majority for the first time in the match. Immediately after the throw-in, the Slovaks skated in two towards the goal of the Latvian national team, Plūmiņas saving the team. One hockey player failed to use the advantage, and in the second half of the third the Latvians did not manage to threaten the opponent’s goal either.
At the end of the penultimate minute of regular time, Plūmiņš was replaced by the sixth field player, but he failed to play back.
On Wednesday, in the quarter-finals, Latvian hockey players beat their peers from the USA 5-2, reaching the semi-finals for the first time in history.
Meanwhile, the Slovaks defeated Denmark 7-1 in the quarter-finals and entered the top four of the U-18 World Championship for the fourth year in a row. In the previous three tournaments, Slovakian hockey players had to settle for the fourth position.
The two teams also met in the subgroup match, in which Latvia recognized the superiority of Slovakia with 2:5.
In other games of Group A, the Latvians lost to Canada with 0:6, lost to their peers from Finland with 0:2 and defeated Norway with 8:1, finishing fourth in the subgroup. On the other hand, the Slovaks beat the Canadians 2:1 at the start of the tournament and defeated the Norwegians 6:1 and lost to the Finns 4:5 in overtime, which did not prevent them from taking the first place in the group.
In the quarter-finals, the Swedes beat Canada 4-2, while the Czechs beat Finland 2-1.
While preparing for the world championship, the Latvian ice hockey players beat Poland 5:2 and 8:3 in the test matches at home, but then in Bratislava they recognized the superiority of Germany 0:3 and lost to Sweden 1:8.
The head coach Oleg Sorokin is assisted by Herbert Vasilijevs, Maksims Shirokovs and Raimonds Vilkoits in the national team, while Raivis Miezāns takes care of physical training. Edgars Masalskis, who also works with the Latvian U-20 hockey team, joined the national team as a goalkeeper coach this year.
The World Youth Championship in the elite division will take place in the Slovak cities of Trenčín and Bratislava until May 2.
The Latvian U-18 national team has been playing in the elite division since 2019, or the eighth year in a row.
The composition of the Latvian U-18 hockey team:
goalkeepers – Kristers Plēpis (“Riga HS”), Patriks Plūmins (“Zemgale/LBTU”), Ilya Nikitins (Philadelphia “Rebels”, NAHL);
defenders – Tomas Erdmanis-Hermanis, Herbert Laugalis, Markus Saviels (all – “Rīgas HS”), Oskars Luke (Mikeli “Jukurit”, Finland), Richards Lisovskis (“Lukko”, Finland), Adrians Kļaviņš (“Borlange HF”, Sweden), Edgars Laganovskis (“Atlantic Coast Academy”, USA), Sanders Krūmiņš (“Young Lions”, Switzerland);
forwards – Kristers Obuks, Stefan Rots, Dāvids Danilovs, Kārlis Tamenieks (all – “Rīgas HS”), Olivers Mūrnieks (St. John’s “Sea Dogs”, QMJHL), Martins Klaučans (Sherbrooks “Phoenix”, QMJHL), Magnus Avotiņš (Blackfeld “Bulldogs”, BCHL), Richards Rutkis (New Jersey “Rockets”, USA), Emils Brakše (Cleveland “Baron”, USA), Henrijs Upenieks (“KooKoo”, Finland), Ernests Krūmiņš (Turku TPS, Finland), Daniels Reidzāns (“Biel”, Switzerland), Andrejs Losāns (“Fribourg-Gotteron”, Switzerland), David Tarvids (“Plzen, Czech Republic).
