Of course, when a Hungarian women’s national team is in the rink, I do get a bit of more emotional. I had been off the World Floorball Championships for so many years, as I did not dare to put the physical and mental pressure on me. Even though the Hungarian girls were suffering a small line-up, majorly due to high school final exams, they were in the favorite position against Canada in the first match. Canada traveled to Lahti with two lines and one netminder only – this should be a good chance for the Europeans to kick off the tournament with a victory.
This posting comes with a section of 301 major size pictures in the WFC U19 Girls section of the sports galleries.
Hungary – Canada – Match Report
Hungary took the role as the favorite team with some ease in the first minutes of the match. Just after two minutes, Orsolya Galfi had a free position in the slot and gave her team the lead. However, the match became more and more nervous. There were many mistakes and both teams waited quite a lot until the built their attacks. Nonetheless, Hungary felt superior and Krisztina Medica, who later became awarded as her team’s best player, added a second goal in the fifth minute. You can’t say that the match was a good one, even for the lower division of teams. Canada did rely on a strong Amy Field in the goal, which gave her team a chance to come back.
After some eight minutes, Sophie Pomeroy acted faster than all other players when Hungary just did not act well in own defense. Her short distance tip in gave the North Americans more faith. The match had more opportunities, but still a lot of mistakes on both sides. Hungary could keep the score until the intermission though – which was overall deserved.
Canada ties in the Second Period – but Hungary stays confident
There are those things which just should not happen at a WFC – and Hungary did one of them during the intermission. They came back from the locker room far too late. Barbora Beranova and Lucie Hejnova, without a doubt the best team in the rink, had no chance but penalizing the team for delaying the game right at the beginning of the period. Hungary felt more dangerous from the box than Canada in power play, but there was no goal. However, this situation felt to make the Canadian girls believe in themselves stronger. Shirin Laeubli, who is playing in Switzerland, had a lovely fast break after an Hungarian free hit on the left wing and tied the score after 23 minutes.
The Hungarians, however, did not struggle, but rather believed in themselves. Medica was just in a too good scoring position in the 29th minute after a nice pass by Laura Penzes and gave her team the lead again. Five minutes later, Anna Somodi turned over the ball in the Canadian defense and slightly lobbed the ball over Field’s left leg. Hungary converted their chances now – and especially the short, but quick sprints by Medica were too tough for the opponents on that day. Just a few steps in the 39th minute were enough to have her right in the slot without any possible block – Medica went for that goal, so that the score was 5-2 after fourty minutes.
Two more Goals for Magyarország
Not too rarely, youth floorball also comes with a strong mental aspect. Hungary sent the right message after two minutes in the final period, when her goal raised the bar for Canada significantly. After Panka Rezneki added another score for Zsuzsanna Varsanyi’s team in the 47th minute, the match slowly came to an end. Hungary controlled the match and added one more goal by Medica in the 54th minute to finally win 8-2.
Hungary – Canada – My View of the Match
Hungary did struggle with their limited lineup. Nonetheless, some talented players made the difference and finally gave their team a bumpy, but finally a safe voyage to their first victory. You did saw some interesting tactics, like long balls to their strongest players. In order to beat Italy and Denmark, Varsanyi and Petri Tuominen definitely need to find a good strategy. The two-line squad of Canada will have a tough time in the tournament. You need to keep the fingers crossed for them that they somehow find sufficient time to rest and regenerate, so that they can at least play at a somehow constant level in Finland.
Hungary – Canada – Lineups
Hungary: 31 Laura Cseh, 1 Izabell Mihaly, 30 Hanna Szab – 2 Panka Rezneki, 3 Noemi Gugg, 4 Orsolya Galfi, 7 Krisztina Medica, 9 Laura Penzes, 10 Boglarka Somkovi, 14 Fanni Anna Kallai, 23 Fanni Anna Farkas, 28 Boroka Simon, 42 Jazmin Kajtar, 47 Emma Kovacs, 71 Anna Somodi, 85 Panni Avar
Canada: 31 Amy Field – 2 Emelie Blomqvist, 3 Paige Neklia, 7 Sophie Pomeroy, 8 Kayleigh Garrison, 11 Ella Moser, 13 Briseis Hunter, 15 Julia Britton, 16 Mary Claire Smiley, 20 Shirin Laeubli, 88 Makayla Adams
Hungary – Canada – Gallery
In the 2024 WFC U19 Girls section of my sports gallery, there is a designated major size picture gallery with 301 pictures of this match at
Flyctory.com and Hungary
Here are all my postings related to Hungary:
Canada 2024
Here are all my postings related to Canada published in 2024: