Machine-translated from Hungarian.
We took to the ice on home turf at the Győr University Ice Sports Centre against Goodwill Pharma Stilaxx Szeged in the third match of the semi-final. Our aim was to wrap up the tie, and so we started the match with great focus and at a fast pace.
First period
It certainly couldn’t be said that Szeged had come with their hands up – from the very first minute, a pace worthy of a semi-final took hold. Both teams had their chances; we threatened the goal on several occasions, but the visitors were also active. However, the goalkeepers stood their ground well, so the first half ended in a goalless draw.
Second period
As the match went on, we stepped up the pace even further and pinned our opponents back in their own third for extended periods. Our dominance paid off around the 30th minute when Márk Almási (59) finished off a beautifully constructed attack. Shortly afterwards, Barnabás Dézsi (6) extended our lead with a long-range shot.
Next came the now familiar ‘Győr speciality’: we were still able to score despite being a man down, with Martin Sági (5) finding the net in front of goal this time. Szeged quickly pulled one back, signalling that they weren’t giving up, but we had an answer to that too – István Szűcs (97) also scored whilst we were a man down. By the end of the period, we had gone into the break with a 4–1 lead.
Third period
In the final period, we completely overwhelmed our opponents. We scored two quick goals right in the opening minutes (Bence Dézsi (51) and Benedek Madácsi (18)), which effectively decided the match. Although Szeged managed to pull one back, from that point on it was clearly our will that prevailed.
A goal-scoring frenzy broke out, with a total of 10 Győr goals scored in the third period. There was a succession of fine attacks and clinical finishes: among others, István Szűcs, Benedek Madácsi, Sebestyén Csata (10), Barnabás Dézsi, Márton Molnár (14) and Martin Sági all got on the scoresheet. By the end, the match had really opened up, and every attack we launched looked set to yield another goal.
Overview
With a confident, dominant performance, we won the match 14–2 and reached the final with a 3–0 aggregate victory, sweeping the series. The team kept the match under control throughout and were clearly the better side from the second half onwards.
The final begins on 4 April on home ice at the Győr University Ice Sports Centre, where we will face the winner of the MAC/Lehel tie.
UNI GYŐR ETO HC – Goodwill Pharma Stilaxx Szeged: 14–2 (0–0, 4–1, 10–1)
Goalscorers: Márk Almási (1), Barnabás Dézsi (2), Martin Sági (2), István Szűcs (4), Bence Dézsi (1), Benedek Madácsi (2), Sebestyén Csata (1), Márton Molnár (1) (UNI GYŐR ETO HC) Evgenii Ivanov (2) (Goodwill Pharma Stilaxx Szeged)
Fotó: @csigai_sportphotgraphy