Machine-translated from Hungarian.
Our team kicked off their campaign in the EUHL 2024/25 season on Tuesday evening. We were thrown straight in at the deep end, hosting last year’s runners-up, the Gladiators Trencin, at the Győr Ice Sports Centre.
It was clear from the very first moment that we weren’t taking it easy on the ice, yet the first goal still came from a Slovak player: Duzek found himself unmarked in front of Róth’s goal in the third minute and fired the puck low into the bottom right-hand corner (0–1). For a long time afterwards, both teams could only create chances, but halfway through the period we gained a man advantage, which we managed to capitalise on: Sebestyén Csata ruthlessly pounced on a rebound (1–1). A few minutes later, he was once again the star of the show; following a fine cross, the goalkeeper and two defenders stretched in vain but were unable to get back in time (see featured image) (2–1). There were no further goals before half-time, so the teams went into the break with Győr in the lead.
The second period got off to a dream start: Bence Dézsi cleverly won the puck and set off towards the visitors’ goal; one-on-one, he made no mistake, extending our lead to two goals (3–1). Unfortunately, we didn’t have to wait long for a response; just over 40 seconds later, Skvarka was able to turn and shoot unchallenged (3–2). The Trenčín side clearly stepped up a gear; we were pinned back in front of our own goal on several occasions, and this inevitably led to a goal: following a flurry of action, Smolka found the gap past Róth (3–3).
After the equaliser, the teams managed only a few chances for a good 25 minutes; the next goal came halfway through the final period, though unfortunately not from a Győr player: at the end of a dynamic counter-attack, Drapal found himself in a clear-cut chance and made no mistake, putting the Gladiators back in the lead for the first time in a long while. With two minutes to go, we called a time-out and tried the ‘empty net’ tactic, but the visitors managed to capitalise on one of their puck recoveries, with Koncir slotting the puck into our unguarded net, thereby sealing the match and setting the final score (3–5).
**We came very close to springing a surprise against a side that, on paper, was far stronger than us.
It was an encouraging first match in the fast-paced world of the EUHL – we can look forward to more thrilling encounters this season!**
Come on, UNI GYŐR ETO!
UNI GYŐR ETO HC vs Gladiators Trencin: 3 – 5 (EUHL) Goalscorers: **#10 Sebestyén Csata (2), #15 Bence Dézsi (UNI GYŐR ETO) #22 Duzek, #11 Skvarka, #24 Smolka (2), #17 Drapal (Gladiators)
We’ve put together a selection of the best photos from the match in our gallery:
Photo: Dr Krisztina Németh-Csigai
Fotó: Dr. Németh-Csigai Krisztina