Czech U20 National Team Wins Gold at the Pilsen Challenge!

The Czech U20 team won the group stage of the tournament and succeeded in the final as well, earning gold medals.

Six teams participated in the tournament: four club teams—Sierre Lions and Oberwil Rebells from Switzerland, LG Bratislava from Slovakia, and HBC Plzeň from the Czech Republic—as well as two national selections: Slovakia U23 and Czech Republic U20.

The Czech team started the tournament with a match against Sierre from Switzerland. The first goal was scored by Sierre, who led 1–0 after two periods. The Czech players turned the game around in the third period to lead 2–1, but they couldn’t celebrate the win, as Canadian world champion Jean-Philippe Moquin scored the equalizer just three seconds before the end, ending the game in a 2–2 draw.

In the second game of the tournament, against the home team Plzeň, the Czech U20 team again had to come from behind. This time they completed the comeback and won 2–1.

In the following games, the Czech team defeated the Swiss team Oberwil 3–0, lost to Slovakia U23 0–1, and won their final group match against Slovak club LG Bratislava 3–2.

In the final, they faced Sierre again, with whom they had drawn 2–2 in their first game of the tournament. This time, the Czech team took the lead early, going up 3–0. Sierre reduced the deficit to 2–3, but a fourth goal secured the victory for the Czech U20 team, who celebrated winning the tournament.

The best Czech U20 player was Jan Pavlík, and the tournament MVP was Štěpán Palán.

Participation in this well-attended international tournament was excellent preparation for the junior world championship, both for the team management and every player.

Source and photo: hokejbal.cz