“You’ve worked hard to get to the final!” said head coach Reto Suri in the U21 Elite dressing room before the game. Indeed, the Zug juniors put in convincing performances against Salzburg (4-0) on Wednesday and Tampere (4-3 after trailing 1-3) on Friday, earning their place in the final.
There, in front of around 250 spectators, they faced Swedish representatives Rögle BK, who had reached the final in each of the previous two years, only to lose both times to Helsinki IFK. For the Swedes, the time had come to claim the title: with a composed performance, Rögle won the trophy for the first time.
The goals for Rögle BK were scored by Johannes Neumann (15th minute, assisted by Oliver Larsen), Edwin Myrestam (23rd minute, assisted by Douglas Flygt), Milo Fortkord (39th minute), Isak Norlin (55th minute, double power play, assisted by Oliver Larsen) and Oliver Larsen (60th minute). Gian Körner scored the goal for EVZ on a pass from Ramon Meier in the 35th minute during a power play.
In the final match on Sunday afternoon, Zuger Rögle BK from Sweden had to admit defeat.
Reto Suri was nevertheless very satisfied with his team’s performance: “We played a good tournament and benefited greatly from these international games. There were also exciting exchanges with the coaches from other countries at the coaching level.”
“We were once again able to enjoy a great junior tournament at the highest international level,” sums up Roland Schmid, head of The Hockey Academy and OK boss of the Prospects Challenge. Due to construction work at the OYM hall, the Prospects Challenge will not be able to take place in Zug next summer. “We have been in contact with the other participating teams for some time and are well on the way to finding another venue for the tournament.”
