Israel U20 team takes the ice in style: victory over New Zealand

Israel U20 team kicked off its World Championship campaign with an exciting win over New Zealand. On the ice of Winter Sports Palace in Sofia, Bulgaria, our guys prevailed in a thrilling and highly entertaining contest by an 8-6 scoreline.

Things started well for the Israelis with Yahel Sharon giving them the lead inside the two-minute mark but the New Zealanders soon found their way back and by the first intermission our team was trailing 1-2 after strikes from Jacob Carey and Luc Taillon found the net.

The second period unfolded with a completely different script. Ori Segal leveled the score at 2-2 in the 28th minute. Although another goal from Taillon briefly gave New Zealand the lead, it was short-lived. Nikita Zitserman and Adi Rigler netted goals just 48 seconds apart, followed by two more markers from the unstoppable Mike Levin, one of them short-handed. Israel entered the locker room with a commanding 6-3 lead.

But New Zealand’s challenge was far from over. Two goals in the 43^rd minute cut the deficit to the minimum and the opponents kept their pressure on Alon Shpinel forcing a couple of spectacular saves from our goalie. Backed by his strong performance, the team regrouped, and Itay Kerner and Zitserman restored a three-goal cushion. There was still enough time left for Carey to pull one back with four minutes to play but our guys stood firm to protect the score.

“Winning is always nice but our joy is doubled by the very fact that we can compete here”, said Mikhael Horowitz, CEO of the Ice Hockey Federation of Israel. “Our players traveled from all over the world to represent Israel at the U20s after receiving last-minute notice that we would be able to attend. We are excited, we expect good results and we have a very good team. Our guys played for a few years alongside each other, they are good friends and they want to bring gold to Israel.”

“Not everything went according to plan in our first game”, added the head coach Evgeni Kozhevnikov, “but we are confident. We had a couple of practice sessions before the start which showed that we were in good shape, and now we are committed and motivated, and expectations are high.”

Team Israel U20 continues its quest for gold tomorrow with a game against hosts Bulgaria. The puck drops at 20:00 local/Israel time.

All 2024 IIHF U20 World Championship can be watched live