Uvis Balinskis, Rūdolfs Balcers, Mārtiņš Dzierkals and Rodrigo Ābols scored goals for Latvia.
The Latvians gained the majority less than a minute later, when one of the Slovenian players tripped Kristianas Rubinas in the Latvian defensive zone. In the majority, Rodrigo Ābols passed to Kaspars Daugaviņš, who then delivered the puck to Balinskis, and the defender threw it into the Slovenian goal without hesitation, making it 1:0 in favor of Latvia.
After the conceded goal, Slovenia quickly responded with an accurate shot, when after an intercepted Latvian pass, Roks Tičars beat Kristera Gudļevski with a strong shot and equalized the score.
At the end of the period, the Latvians had two more majorities, the second of which was successful and they regained the one-goal advantage. After a battle in front of the Slovenian goal, Balcer was the first to the puck and easily slid it into an almost empty net.
On the other hand, at the beginning of the second third, after Oskars Batnia’s fight behind the opponent’s goal, Dzierkals got to the puck, who sent it into Slovenia’s goal from the throw-in circle and doubled Latvia’s advantage.
A little more than eight minutes before the end of the second period, Latvia remained in the minority after Oskars Cibulskis earned a two-minute suspension for tripping. In the minority, the Latvian hockey players successfully defended themselves, however, shortly after the end of the game, Luka Mavers reduced Slovenia’s deficit to one accurate shot.
Also at the end of the second third, the Latvians got the majority, which was closed by Ābols after five seconds with an accurate shot, and Latvia regained the two-goal advantage.
At the beginning of the final third, the Latvian hockey players had two majorities, during which they failed to deliver the puck to the Slovenian goal. In the continuation, Jānis Jaks earned a two-minute rejection, but the Latvian hockey players managed to protect their goal once again in the minority.
At the end of the match, the hockey players of both teams managed to organize a small fight in the Latvian defense zone, as a result of which the Latvians were still in the majority at the end of the regular time, but the result did not change.
Latvia’s goal was guarded by Gudļevskis, who saved 20 of 22 shots, while Gašpers Krošeļs managed 50 shots at the other end of the court.
Daugaviņš was recognized as the best player in the Latvian national team, while Tičars, the author of the first goal, was awarded the best player in the Slovenian national team.
It has already been reported that the qualification tournament in Riga started on Thursday with the victory of the French hockey players over Ukraine with 7:2.
The Latvian national team will fight Ukraine on August 30 and France on September 1 for a ticket to the 2026 Olympic Games in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Only the winner of the qualification will win the ticket to the 2026 Olympic Games.
2024-08-31 17:36:11