A thrilling finish and an important victory against the Philosophers.

Alongside the Andersen League, our team’s EUHL campaign also continues in 2024; on Wednesday evening, we hosted Philosophers Nitra at home.

There was a lot at stake in this match, as the Nitra side are our main rivals on the road to the play-offs; had we lost, our chances of finishing in the top six would almost certainly have been gone.

Both teams were well aware of what was at stake; from the very first minute, the game on the ice was fast-paced and evenly matched, with both sides missing chances. The first goal of the match came after 11 minutes, when Márk Vas played a beautiful pass into the centre for Norbert Lévai, who was coming in from distance and gave the opposition goalkeeper no chance. There were no further goals in this period, so the lads went into the break with the lead.

The fast-paced battle continued into the second period, but midway through the period the visitors managed to capitalise on the final seconds of one of their power plays and equalise through Slavik. With four minutes to go before the final whistle, the ‘Philosophers’ once again found themselves in the final seconds of a power play, but following an aggressive attack by Ádám Kiss, the visitors’ goalkeeper was left without his stick, a situation which the oncoming **István Farkas, putting our team back in the lead.

Although we went into the final period with a one-goal lead, you could sense that anything could still happen in this match. It was vital that Győr scored again, and fortunately Mátyás Odnoga did just that midway through the period. After that, the away team noticeably stepped up a gear, increased the pressure, and then, with three minutes to go – following a time-out – they pulled their goalkeeper and tried to play with six outfield players in a half-empty net situation. Although we came within a hair’s breadth of scoring again on several occasions, the visitors still managed to score their second goal (Rakus), bringing them within one goal of forcing extra time.

The final minutes of the match were a real battle; Nitra threw everything they had at us in a bid to score the equaliser, but fortunately we managed to hold out for those 60 seconds and secure a very important victory.

After the final whistle, the players’ pent-up tension boiled over and a minor brawl broke out on the ice; fortunately, no one was seriously injured.

We have another home match coming up on Saturday, with the Mac Ikonok visiting Győr, and the following day we’ll be taking to the ice as guests of the Sportországi Cápák.

Come on, UNI GYŐR ETO!

UNI GYŐR ETO HC vs Philosophers Nitra: 3 – 2 (EUHL) Goalscorers: **#15 Norbert Lévai, #10 István Farkas, #17 Mátyás Odnoga (UNI GYŐR ETO) **#88 Slavik, #19 Rakus (Philosophers)

We’ve put together a selection of the best photos from the match in our gallery:

Photo: Dr Krisztina Németh-Csigai