In its first two round robin games, Czechia won with a simple formula: crushing defense. That formula worked again today, as they defeated Scotland 18-5 to finish a perfect 3-0 in pool play.
“We tried to keep as low-scoring as we could,” Pavel Dosly said. “We also wanted to win by at least 12.”
Czechia started fast offensively, scoring four times in the first six minutes. After the fourth goal, Scotland made a goalkeeper switch, replacing starter Craig Mcfeeters with backup Josh Gamble. Czechia held a 5-1 lead after the first quarter.
Czechia’s defense stayed stout in the second quarter. Scotland didn’t score in the period until Luke Laszkiewicz found the back of the net with less than four minutes left before halftime. Both teams would score twice in the quarter, and Czechia was up 7-3 at the break.
Scotland didn’t score in the third quarter marking the fourth time this tournament Czechia has held a team without a goal for an entire period. The Czechians scored five times in the period, making the game a blowout.
In pool play, Czechia allowed 13 goals in the three games. They allowed four to Jamaica and Chinese Taipei each.
Dosly said that building a great defense that is capable of stopping any opponent is tricky because they’re all different.
“We knew that Scotland’s best players and shooters were trying to shoot from outside,” he said. “So we wanted to push them a little bit higher and make them shoot from too far.”
Lukas Kucera and Jiri Loskot led the Czechians with four goals apiece. Loskot also had five assists. Goalkeeper Viktor Blaha saved 30 of Scotland 35’s shots.
After today’s game, Czechia spent a few minutes in the locker room yelling and whooping in celebration of winning Pool D. However, Dosly said that the team is also keeping it in perspective.
“We’re just taking it game by game,” Dosly said. “We’ll watch the results of the Israel-Hong Kong, China game, and make a gameplan about who we’re playing after that.”
Czechia ended up with the fifth overall seed and the highest ranking of all the pool winners. It will face the winner of Hong Kong, China vs. Germany in the first round of the playoffs on Wednesday.
