Machine-translated from Hungarian.
The EUHL final continued on home ice against the defending champions, UMB. We’d managed to spring a surprise on the Banská Bystrica side once on their home turf, so we went into the two matches at the Győr University Ice Sports Centre with the series tied at 1–1.
04.07.
From the very first moment, it was clear that UMB were not willing to leave anything to chance; they came at our players with tremendous intensity, and in the first two periods we found ourselves pinned back in front of our own goal on several occasions, and **Hunor Gergely, our goalkeeper, was kept very busy by the visitors.
Despite this, the first period ended goalless; in the second, however, the Slovak team’s pressure paid off, with the visitors scoring twice in barely a minute and a half midway through the period, but fortunately we were able to respond very quickly, with Sebestyén Csata found the net. Less than five minutes before the final whistle, we found ourselves a man down, a situation the defending champions did not let go unpunished, meaning they went into the second interval with a two-goal lead.
In the final third, the game turned on its head; it became a completely even contest, and the Győr lads, showing tremendous spirit, managed to equalise: first Sebestyén Csata found the net again, followed by Bence Dézsi. Shortly afterwards, however, we found ourselves a man down once more and a shot fired from behind a full screen found its way into our net. In the final two minutes, we tried playing with an empty net, but on both occasions the Slovakian side came out on top, sealing a 3–6 final score.
The crowd were treated to a high-quality, fast-paced match; UMB managed to secure victory in a closely fought contest, thereby extending their lead in the tie to 2–1. **
4 August
Survival was at stake in Wednesday’s match; had the visitors won, the Győr University Ice Sports Centre could have been crowned champions.
From the very first minute, the crowd could see a different dynamic compared to the previous evening’s match; the game was much more evenly matched. In the first two periods, UMB were unable to break through our defence, whilst we found the back of the net twice against the Banská Bystrica goalkeeper: Benedek Madácsi scored in the 10th minute, whilst Bence Dézsi produced a magnificent solo effort three minutes before the second interval. The visitors managed to pull one back early in the final third, but our defence then tightened up again, and in the final minute we extended our lead with an empty-net goal Mátyás Odnoga with a long-range lob, and half a minute later we also gifted the Slovak side a ‘regular’ goal through Sebestyén Csata. It’s almost unbelievable to say, but on Thursday we’ll be taking to the ice in Banská Bystrica to compete for the league trophy! At the start of the season, no one would have thought that the team which failed to make the play-offs last year would now be forcing the overwhelming favourites, UMB, into a fifth match in the FINAL! Come on, UNI GYŐR ETO!
UNI GYŐR ETO HC vs UMB (III.): 3 – 6 (EUHL final) Goalscorers: **#10 Sebestyén Csata (2), #15 Bence Dézsi (UNI GYŐR ETO) *#23 Siakel, #66 Kalnicky, #25 Slivka, #18 Hudak, #37 Novodomec, #11 Krendzelak (GLADIATORS) * UNI GYŐR ETO HC vs UMB (IV.): 4 – 1 (EUHL Final) Goalscorers: **#18 Benedek Madácsi, #15 Bence Dézsi, #14 Mátyás Odnoga, #10 Sebestyén Csata (UNI GYŐR ETO) **#66 Kalnicky (UMB)
We’ve put together a selection of the best photos from the match in our gallery:
Photo: Dr Krisztina Németh-Csigai & Bence Boros
7 April 2025.
8 April 2025
Fotó: Dr. Németh-Csigai Krisztina & Boros Bence