Menu Close
More Close
Report

Despite physical effort from Greece, Slovakia stays perfect

3. 6. 2017 | Derek OBrien
Despite some early difficulty, Slovakia remains perfect in the tournament following a 3-1 victory over Greece, in a very physical game that included several fisticuffs. After taking Canada to a shootout earlier in the tournament, the Greeks continued to show they’re no pushover by taking a first period lead on a goal by Nicholas Pitsikoulis. The Slovaks evened it in the second period and then finally went in front in the third with two goals 1:13 apart – Jaroslav Martinusik scored the game-winner on a deflection and assisted on the insurance marker.
 

Reactions

Jozef Minarik (captain, Team Slovakia): We knew what to expect. Greece is a strong, tough and battling team that trains in Canada, so we knew what we would have to do. We were under pressure in the first period and gave up a goal, but I think we calmed down in the second and third periods. I’m a bit sorry for Greece, they were a little upset and battled us hard, but we’re glad we won.

John Adamou (alternate captain, Team Greece): This was the best game that we’ve played so far in the tournament. We’ve had three games in three days to start. We had a big game against Canada, then the next day against India we didn’t have much energy, but today we played very well. Now we’re playing on Monday and it’s a must-win against Finland. We have to have a short memory and forget about this and focus on our game. I also want to say that the people here have been amazing and the organization of the tournament is fantastic.