Machine-translated from Hungarian.
Drama, a dramatic turnaround, a golden goal – it was all there in the Andersen League final, which our team went on to win, thereby defending our league title in the Hungarian men’s ‘semi-professional’ second division of ice hockey!
In the final, we faced the regular-season champions Goodwill Pharma Stilaxx Szeged, and the tie was decided in the most thrilling way possible, over five matches, with a golden goal in extra time – in our favour!
We played the first match in Szeged, and in a thrilling battle we managed to win 4–3, thereby taking away their home advantage. The return leg in Győr was a real hockey thriller: we came back from 0–3 and 3–5 down, then took the lead with a minute and a half to go, which we sealed with an empty-net goal to make it 7–5.
We then travelled to Szeged again on 13 April to round off the series. However, the home side didn’t make it easy for us: we came from behind three times, and although we were leading towards the end, they equalised with two minutes to go, before scoring the winning goal in extra time.
On 18 April, we had the chance to seal the final in front of our home crowd, but the visitors played tactically and calmly, and won 3–2 in a closely fought match. This set the stage for the fifth and decisive match – on 20 April, Easter Sunday, back in Szeged.
The final match of the season was, in every respect, worthy of the league title.
The match didn’t get off to a very promising start for us; barely two minutes in, Reiter let in a long-range shot that found its way into Róth’s net. 1–0
Fortunately, we were able to respond almost immediately: Martin Sipák received a fine pass from Madácsi, and Garbacz was unable to react in time. 1–1
But the ‘fireworks’ didn’t stop there; barely more than two minutes later, the home side were back in the lead, with Kaposi finding himself one-on-one with our goalkeeper. 2–1
Just one minute later, our deficit had grown to two goals; we were playing with a man advantage, but following an aggressive attack, Zorin managed to steal the puck and carry it forward on his own, and his hand didn’t waver. 3–1
We ‘corrected’ that major defensive error straight away, however, and whilst we still had the man advantage, Márk Vas unleashed a long-range shot from cover that found the top right corner. 3–2
Five goals were scored in less than 8 minutes, but we had to wait until the end of the period for the next one.
With one minute to go before the break, Azari set off, carried the puck almost the entire length of the rink and found a gap beside the goalpost. 4–2
From that point on, however, we tightened up our defence and, over the next 41 minutes, didn’t allow the regular-season winners to score any further goals, whilst we slowly but surely began to chip away at our deficit. Midway through the second period, following some fine team play, Sebestyén Csata found the net. 3–4
Early in the final period, Márk Vas scored his second goal of the match, bringing us level! 4–4
With 6 minutes to go, Márk Nagy skilfully won the puck in the opposition’s third and passed it back to Dániel Csölle, who didn’t hesitate and slotted it home! 4–5
A week ago, right here, the scenario played out in much the same way: we managed to come back from behind and take the lead, but with two minutes to go, Szeged equalised and went on to win in extra time. This time we defended very well in the remaining minutes, but then came the incredible drama: we were practically holding the cup in one hand, with four seconds left on the clock and the throw-in in our half, which the home side managed to win, Shivrin fired off a shot that somehow found its way through a gap between four defenders and into the net, thus ‘forcing’ the teams into extra time in the very last second. 5–5
After that, however, the team showed the fantastic resilience and fighting spirit we’d seen from them all season: in the 76th second of stoppage time, Bendegúz Jábor got past his marker and fired the ball into the bottom left corner from a tight angle!!!
UNI GYŐR ETO HC are the champions!
The attendance figures for the final speak for themselves: an average of nearly 700 spectators watched the matches at the venue – one of the highest attendances in the history of the league and our team.
But it’s not just the Andersen League trophy that gives us cause to be proud of the 2024/25 season:
- We made history in the Hungarian Cup, where we reached the third round and finished as the best non-top-flight team.
- We won a bronze medal at the MEFOB, that is, the university championship.
- We reached the final of the international EUHL, where, after just five matches, we were narrowly defeated by the defending champions, UMB.
- And finally: we’ve become champions of the Andersen League – again!
All of this is the result of a huge amount of hard work, belief, teamwork and the support of our fans. Thank you to everyone who has been with us this season – this success belongs to us all!
Come on, UNI GYŐR ETO!
Goodwill Pharma Stilaxx Szeged vs UNI GYŐR ETO HC: 5 – 6 (Hungary) (Andersen League championship – decider – match) Goal scorers: **#7 Martin Sipák, #9 Márk Vas (2), #10 Sebestyén Csata, #19 Dániel Csölle, #17 Bendegúz Jábor (UNI GYŐR ETO) **#9 Reiter, #95 Kaposi, #18 Zorin, #10 Azari, #16 Shivrin (Szeged)
Photo: Balázs Feil – @feilframe
Fotó: Feil Balázs – @feilframe