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Division I Gold Medal Game: New Zealand – Brazil 4:5 OTBrazil won its first-ever Division I gold medal at the IIHF InLine Hockey World Championship after skating to a 5-4 overtime win against New Zealand in Passau. James Trevena-Brown scored two goals in the second quarter, which helped lift New Zealand to the early 3-0 lead in the game. Brazil closed the gap to 3-1 before the half, but New Zealand opened the second half by quickly regaining the three-goal lead just 35 seconds into the third quarter. Brazil regrouped after the quick goal and netted two back-to-back, power-play goals coming less than two minutes apart to make it a 4-3 affair. Pedro Raposo completed the Brazilian comeback, scoring the only goal of the fourth quarter and sending the game into overtime in a 4-4 deadlock. Rogerio Polido was the overtime hero, scoring in the fifth minute of the extra time to lift his team to the come-from-behind win for the gold medal. It was the sixth medal for Brazil at the InLine championship. The South American nation had previously won three silver and two bronze medals. Meanwhile for New Zealand, the silver medal was the highest-ever finish for the country, which had one bronze medal to its credit before today’s game Australia – New Zealand 3:7New Zealand will skate in its first-ever gold medal game at the InLine Hockey World Championship after defeating rival Australia 7-3. The game was quite a turnaround for the Kiwis, who didn’t play in the last two InLine championships and lost to Australia in the preliminary round by 11 goals. It will be only the second medal in the nation’s history at the championship. The game was up for grabs until the fourth quarter as not team could pull ahead by more than one goal. New Zealand had a slight edge entering the fourth quarter with a 3-2 lead. But New Zealand broke things wide open in the fourth quarter, out-scoring Australia 4-1 and going ahead to the 7-3 win. The bronze medal will be
Australia’s third chance to earn a medal at the InLine championship, they
have a silver and bronze to their credit in previous events. Japan – New Zealand 4:5In the second major upset of the day, New Zealand topped Japan, 5-4, in the Division I quarterfinal game. New Zealand has not participated in the last two InLine World championships, making the win one of the biggest stunners in this championship. It was a battle throughout the 48-minute game as no team could pull ahead with a solid lead. In fact, the largest lead of the game came in the first half, when the Kiwis opened up a 2-0 lead after the special teams one-two punch of a shorthanded and power play goal. New Zealand could have made it a three-goal advantage before the end of the half, but missed on a penalty shot. Japan found its scoring touch in the second half thanks to Shuhei Tadamura, who netted two goals in the third quarter to pull Japan to within one. Tadamura netted a hat trick in the win. The teams exchanged goals that came less than 30 seconds apart to open up the fourth quarter to make it 4-3 New Zealand advantage. Again, in the last two minutes the teams scored a goal each, this time coming 49 seconds apart, but the clock ran out on Japan to get the equalizer as New Zealand hung on for the hard-fought win. Australia – New Zealand 13:2The final piece of the Group D puzzle fell into place when Australia dominated New Zealand 13-2 in the final Division I preliminary round game in Landshut. The much-anticipated geographical rivalry game didn’t live up to expectations as Australia was in control from the first puck drop through the last whistle. The four-goal Australian was a clear indication that the Aussies were on a mission to take the second spot in their preliminary round group. Olivier Rozdarz scored twice in the first-quarter flurry. Three more Australian goals before the half made it a heft 7-2 lead going into the second half. Lee McLaughlin scored twice in the second half for Australia as they piled on six more goals in the 24-minute span to earn the convincing 13-2 win Brazil – New Zealand 5:3 Brazil held on to its undefeated record after skating a to 5-3 win against New Zealand in Division I action in Landshut. After a quiet first 10 minutes the teams erupted with a flurry of activity to close the first quarter, netting three goals in the final few minutes of the quarter. New Zealand got on the board first with a spectacular two-on-one breakout goal, but on the next shift, Brazil tied the game at one. Brazil took the lead moments later with a fluke goal shot from near center ice. Brazil extended its lead just over two minutes into the second quarter when Lucas Ota scored. After the goal both team’s offenses were silent for more than 20 minutes until Pedro Raposo made it a 4-1 lead for Brazil with just over a minute left in the third quarter. New Zealand cut into the lead with a power-play goal to open the fourth quarter, but it was too little too late. The teams exchanged last-minute goals, bringing the final to 5-3. The win keeps Brazil unbeaten in two games, while it was New Zealand’s first loss of the championship. New Zealand – Hungary 9-8 In the first surprise of this year’s InLine Hockey World Championship, New Zealand edged Hungary, 9-8. The defending silver medalist, Hungary, looked like they would roll early on, getting their first goal just one minute into the game and going up 2-0 within the first 5:05. But New Zealand worked their way back into the game, striking three times before the first quarter, making it a 3-3 game at the end of the first 12 minutes. New Zealand opened up the second quarter with two quick goals to take its first lead of the game, but the joy was short lived as Hungary equalized the game at the 20:10 mark. The game continued to be a see-saw battle through the second half with neither team pulling ahead by more than one goal. Hungary took its last lead at the 30:19 mark, making it an 8-7 affair. But New Zealand kept chipping away and tied the game at eight with ten minutes left in the game. The deciding goal came with just over three minutes left when Lewis Taiapa Skinnon struck to give the Kiwis the 9-8 victory. Hungary’s Tamas Lencses paced all players with two goals and four assists in the loss. On the New Zealand side, two players, Timothy Whipps and Anthony Nathan scored twice.
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