President’s ice hockey team achieved first victory in amateur tournament’s finals
The ice hockey team of the President of Belarus has celebrated the first victory in the final series of the 16th National Amateur Ice Hockey Tournament for the Prizes of the President’s Sports Club, BelTA reports
The rival of the President’s team in the finals was the Minsk Region squad. In the starting period of the first game, which took place at Minsk’s Olympic Arena, the teams didn’t score any goals, so the main events began to unfold during the next period. At the beginning of the second third, the guests took the lead thanks to Maksim Slysh, though at that time the Minsk Region ice hockey players were playing in the minority: 3 to 5. The hosts managed to recoup seven minutes later, with the first goal of the President’s team in the finals scored by Aleksei Shantyka.
A few seconds before the break, Oleg Antonenko brought the Head of State’s squad forward, and at the start of the third period, Artem Antonenko increased his team’s advantage to two goals – 3:1. In the time remaining until the final whistle, the President’s team brought the score to a devastating score: first, Artem Karkotsky took advantage of Aleksandr Lukashenko’s and Mikhail Grabovsky’s passes, and then Andrei Kostitsyn scored a double, bringing the score to 6:1.
Forward Maksim Slysh (Minsk Region) and goalkeeper Stepan Goryachevsky (President’s team) were recognised as the best players of the match. The second match of the final series up to two victories will take place on April 8th, with hockey players from Brest and Gomel regions competing for bronze medals. According to the results of the tournament’s group stage, the President’s team took first place in the standings, boasting 5 victories across 6 matches and one draw.
The President’s hockey team is a 13-time winner of the National Amateur Ice Hockey Tournament, with hockey players from the Gomel and Minsk regions also claiming one title each. The organisers of the competition are the President’s Sports Club, the Sports and Tourism Ministry and the Minsk City Executive Committee.
