photo: Andre Ringuette/IIHF
Austria overwhelmed Latvia 6-1 this afternoon to claim fourth place in Group A and a spot in the quarter-finals on Thursday. It was a disappointing loss for Latvia, which had shown flashes of its bronze-medal 2023 form at various times in the tournament, but not for extended periods. For Austria, this is their first playoff appearance since 1994.
"It's huge," said 20-year-old Vinzenz Rohrer, who scored two goals for the winners. "It's not guaranteed for us, so when we get here it's a special thing. We take pride in this. Most of the teams say it's about the team, but I think it really is about the team on our team. Our team chemistry is so important; I'm so happy for the boys."
Austria now awaits the outcome of the remaining games to see who they'll play on Thursday, but no matter their opponent, they will take the same approach as Latvia two years ago when they upset Sweden in the QF en route to a bronze medal. Who knows...?
"We had a couple of different goals at the start," Rohrer continued. "Our first goal was to stay in the top group. But we didn't want to think too far ahead and just control our game. We've done a good job of that the last couple of games. We dream of getting to the quarter-finals, and now we've done that, it's a new challenge. It's one game. Anything can happen. It's the attitude you have when you come into a game against one of the big guys. What is there to lose? You're there now. You try your best."
"It's tough to judge now with our emotions about what went wrong, but I give credit to Team Austria," Latvian captain Kaspars Daugavins said. "They showed the whole tournament they deserve to be in the quarter-finals. They went out and pushed us into their hockey, and they achieved their goal. It was hard to change them during the game."
The game started with caution, both teams realizing a quarter-finals berth was at stake. And both goalies were sharp when they needed to be. Kristers Gudlevskis, making his sixth start, was tested first, but he stopped captain Thomas Raffl from in close.
Soon after, Rohrer took the puck to the net and almost swatted in his own rebound, and Dans Locmelis had a good chance from close range for the Latvians. Latvia got the first power play and were effective with the extra player, but David Kickert stood tall in the Austrian cage.
The only goal of the period came on a fortuitous play for Austria. They were playing short-handed, with Dominic Zwerger in the penalty box. As his penalty neared expiration, Latvian forward Martins Dzierkals, playing the point, took a shot. It was blocked by Lucas Thaler just as Zwerger came out of the box, and the puck bounced right to him. He went in alone on a breakaway and beat Gudlevskis with a nice deke at 17:08.
As is so often the case, a tentative opening 20 leads to a more open middle period, and today was no different. But what was decidedly unexpected was that the open play would lead to Austria creating a 3-0 lead.
They made it 2-0 on an early power play when Marco Kasper set up Benjamin Baumgartner for a blast that beat Gudlevskis. Less than two minutes ;later, Rohrer blew up the middle to create a breakaway, and while he was being hounded he beat the goalie over the glove to make it 3-0.
Latvian coach Harijs Vitolins called a timeout to get his team to calm down, and his words had a positive effect quickly. Dans Locmelis brought the puck into the Austrian end and found Eduards Tralmaks in front. He converted on the chance at 8:03 to make it a 3-1 game.
Gudlevskis made the save of the game for Latvia a little later, stopping Paul Huber on a three-on-one to keep it a two-goal game after two periods.
The game took a decisive turn early in the third. Latvia failed to convert on an early power play, but Austria added to their lead at 4:28. A harmless dump-in was mishandled by Janis Jaks, and the puck rolled out to Thomas Raffl in the slot. He knocked it in quickly before Gudlevskis had realized what had happened.
And they kept going. Peter Schneider got the puck in his own end and created a two-on-one with Zwerger, and Zwerger converted the pass with a high shot over Gudlevskis's shoulder to put the game out of reach.
Rohrer added an empty netter at 17:18 as Vitolins tried in desperation to get his team back into the game.
"If you don't have any nerves before the game, there's something wrong with you," Daugavins lamented. "We have a lot of young guys on the team, and it's their first experience for some of them in a big game, battling for a quarter-finals. You know the whole country is behind you and expecting you to win. It's a lot of pressure, but that can't be our excuse. That's the beauty of this game, dealing with the pressure. You want to be in these games."
"It's huge," said 20-year-old Vinzenz Rohrer, who scored two goals for the winners. "It's not guaranteed for us, so when we get here it's a special thing. We take pride in this. Most of the teams say it's about the team, but I think it really is about the team on our team. Our team chemistry is so important; I'm so happy for the boys."
Austria now awaits the outcome of the remaining games to see who they'll play on Thursday, but no matter their opponent, they will take the same approach as Latvia two years ago when they upset Sweden in the QF en route to a bronze medal. Who knows...?
"We had a couple of different goals at the start," Rohrer continued. "Our first goal was to stay in the top group. But we didn't want to think too far ahead and just control our game. We've done a good job of that the last couple of games. We dream of getting to the quarter-finals, and now we've done that, it's a new challenge. It's one game. Anything can happen. It's the attitude you have when you come into a game against one of the big guys. What is there to lose? You're there now. You try your best."
"It's tough to judge now with our emotions about what went wrong, but I give credit to Team Austria," Latvian captain Kaspars Daugavins said. "They showed the whole tournament they deserve to be in the quarter-finals. They went out and pushed us into their hockey, and they achieved their goal. It was hard to change them during the game."
The game started with caution, both teams realizing a quarter-finals berth was at stake. And both goalies were sharp when they needed to be. Kristers Gudlevskis, making his sixth start, was tested first, but he stopped captain Thomas Raffl from in close.
Soon after, Rohrer took the puck to the net and almost swatted in his own rebound, and Dans Locmelis had a good chance from close range for the Latvians. Latvia got the first power play and were effective with the extra player, but David Kickert stood tall in the Austrian cage.
The only goal of the period came on a fortuitous play for Austria. They were playing short-handed, with Dominic Zwerger in the penalty box. As his penalty neared expiration, Latvian forward Martins Dzierkals, playing the point, took a shot. It was blocked by Lucas Thaler just as Zwerger came out of the box, and the puck bounced right to him. He went in alone on a breakaway and beat Gudlevskis with a nice deke at 17:08.
As is so often the case, a tentative opening 20 leads to a more open middle period, and today was no different. But what was decidedly unexpected was that the open play would lead to Austria creating a 3-0 lead.
They made it 2-0 on an early power play when Marco Kasper set up Benjamin Baumgartner for a blast that beat Gudlevskis. Less than two minutes ;later, Rohrer blew up the middle to create a breakaway, and while he was being hounded he beat the goalie over the glove to make it 3-0.
Latvian coach Harijs Vitolins called a timeout to get his team to calm down, and his words had a positive effect quickly. Dans Locmelis brought the puck into the Austrian end and found Eduards Tralmaks in front. He converted on the chance at 8:03 to make it a 3-1 game.
Gudlevskis made the save of the game for Latvia a little later, stopping Paul Huber on a three-on-one to keep it a two-goal game after two periods.
The game took a decisive turn early in the third. Latvia failed to convert on an early power play, but Austria added to their lead at 4:28. A harmless dump-in was mishandled by Janis Jaks, and the puck rolled out to Thomas Raffl in the slot. He knocked it in quickly before Gudlevskis had realized what had happened.
And they kept going. Peter Schneider got the puck in his own end and created a two-on-one with Zwerger, and Zwerger converted the pass with a high shot over Gudlevskis's shoulder to put the game out of reach.
Rohrer added an empty netter at 17:18 as Vitolins tried in desperation to get his team back into the game.
"If you don't have any nerves before the game, there's something wrong with you," Daugavins lamented. "We have a lot of young guys on the team, and it's their first experience for some of them in a big game, battling for a quarter-finals. You know the whole country is behind you and expecting you to win. It's a lot of pressure, but that can't be our excuse. That's the beauty of this game, dealing with the pressure. You want to be in these games."
Latvia vs Austria - 2025 IIHF WM
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