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Final Seeding
After the conclusion of action on Monday, the seeding ahead of playoff and placement play from #5 through #28 has been set.
Czechia, Israel, Ireland and Japan earned byes into the first round of the playoffs.
The schedule for the play-in round on Tuesday can be found here, and features Hong Kong, China vs. Germany, Netherlands vs. Italy, Australia vs. Scotland and Finland vs. Slovakia.
Games: Switzerland – Greece | Netherlands – Austria | U.S. Virgin Islands – Italy | Slovakia – Puerto Rico | Australia – Hungary | Japan – Finland | Germany – China | Czechia – Scotland | Chinese Taipei – Jamaica | Ireland – Poland | Israel – Hong Kong, China
Switzerland – Greece
Switzerland scored in the final seconds to down Greece 10-9 for its first win at the men’s box championship.
The two teams traded goals all game, with no team getting ahead by two the entire contest. Greece had the 6-5 lead at halftime and an 8-7 lead at the start of the fourth quarter.
Switzerland responded with the first two goals of the fourth to lead 9-8, but then Greece tied it up with five minutes to play.
After five minutes of deadlocked action, right when it looked like the game was headed for overtime, Patrick Brunner rifled a pass behind the net for Sebastian Heri to dump it on the backside of Greece goalkeeper Evan Constantopoulos for the win.
Brunner finished with two goals and four assists while Lukas Heri had four goals and two assists. Sebastian Heri and Dominic Herren each had a goal and three assists.
Sven Baeriswyl made 42 saves at an 81% rate for Switzerland.
Demetre Crews notched five points for Greece while Christos Brooks and Nick Sotiropoulos added three each. Constantopoulos made 34 saves on 43 shots faced.
Both teams will compete in placement play beginning on Wednesday.
Netherlands – Austria
The Netherlands claimed the top spot in Pool E with a 20-9 win over Austria.
The Netherlands finished 3-0 and will need to get past Italy in the play-in round on Tuesday.
Austria led 3-1, but the Netherlands ripped off eight consecutive goals in 10 minutes to lead 9-3. Across the second and third quarters, the Netherlands put together a nine-goal run to extend to lead to 18-4 to seal the game.
Graham Bergsma was the leading attacker for the Dutch with four goals and six assists, while Logan Schmidt added six goals and an assist. Joost van der Horst added five goals.
Sam Haines excelled in net with 36 saves and an 86% save percentage. The Netherlands defense did well to limit Josh Dawick to just six points for Austria and 11 shots on goal.
Adrian Balasch and Andre Sucher added three points each. Austria finished fourth in the pool and will compete in placement play on Wednesday against Switzerland
U.S. Virgin Islands – Italy
Italy reversed its fortunes with a massive 15-11 win over the U.S. Virgin Islands on day four, going from 0-2 and the bottom of Pool E to second place and a spot in the play-in round.
“It feels really good,” said Lucas Dudemaine. “I think the message today was just play as a team, play as a unit. We just kind of stacked all the little things that got us to a great feeling at the end”
With the win, Italy improved to 1-2 and a three-way tie with the USVI and Austria on record. Italy owns the best goal difference among the three and will now advance to the next round. The win was also Italy’s first ever at a men’s box championship.
“We’re looking to make some noise,” added Dudemaine. “It’s not done yet, but we’re really excited for the opportunity so we’ll see what happens.”
The two teams were even early and Italy scored last in the first half to tie the game at 5-5.
After five minutes of the third quarter, Italy went on a game-breaking 4-0 run, keyed by a personal three-goal outburst from Dudemaine, to lead 10-6.
The USVI eventually cut the deficit to three with just under seven minutes to play, but the Italy defense held firm, and Dudemaine tacked on one more to put the game out of reach.
Dudemaine finished with six goals and two assists and Mitchell Zulian had four goals and four assists to power Italy’s offense.
Goalkeeper Samuel Crispo played his part with 42 saves, including 13 to hold off the USVI in the fourth quarter.
Dante Poli had seven points for the U.S. Virgin Islands, who finished third in the pool and will appear again in placement play on Wednesday against Jamaica.
Italy will resume action on Tuesday in the play-in round against the Netherlands.
Slovakia – Puerto Rico
Slovakia pulled away late from Puerto Rico in a battle for second place in Pool F, with Slovakia winning 15-11 and advancing to the play-in round.
Slovakia finished 2-1 in pool play with wins over Puerto Rico and Hungary and will have a chance to improve on its 13th place finish in its last appearance in the men’s box championship in 2019.
Monday’s game was a hard-fought affair, with Slovakia jumping out to leads at 7-4, 9-6, and 10-7, but Puerto Rico always clawing back with goals.
Slovakia’s 10-7 lead came a minute into the fourth quarter, and Puerto Rico rallied to cut it to 10-9 with 12 minutes to play.
This time Slovakia finally got the padding it needed with a four goal run over the next eight minutes to lead 14-9 and put the game away.
Alec Simons and Samuel Postma were outstanding for Slovakia with four goals and five assists for Simons and four goals and four assists for Postma. Denis Englis added five points.
Goalkeeper Lee Jackman was also instrumental in the with with 51 saves on an 82% save percentage, with a massive 16-save third quarter.
Brandon Perkins had four points and Will Ramos scored a hat trick for Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rico nearly advanced to the play-in round in its first-ever men’s box championship, but finished in third place in the pool and will compete in placement play on Wednesday against Poland.
Slovakia will compete in the play-in round on Tuesday against Finland.
Australia – Hungary
Australia clinched the top spot in Pool F with a 29-8 win over Hungary to stay undefeated in Utica.
Australia has posted a top-ten finish in each of the last five men’s box championships but will have to get through Scotland in the play-in round on Tuesday.
It was another dominant display from the Aussies and after the game was tied 4-4 nine minutes in, they went on an 8-0 run in 12 minutes to break the game open. They also scored the final 10 goals of the game in the last 20 minutes.
Lucas Wood led the high-flying attack with three goals and nine assists while Tyler Reynolds stepped with five goals and six assists. Anson Carter, Matt Wood and Brayden Panting all finished with over eight points as well.
Dylan Portnoy had five points for Hungary.
Hungary will be back in placement play on Wednesday.
Japan – Finland
Japan toppled Finland 18-15 to take the top spot in Pool C in one of the headlining results of the men’s box championship so far.
Finland finished in sixth in the last men’s box championship in 2019 and was 2-0 heading into the matchup. The result continues Japan’s rapid development across all disciplines with the win over a top-ten team coming in Japan’s first ever men’s box championship.
The game itself was one of the most thrilling of the championship so far, with Finland erasing leads of 4-1 and 11-6.
Japan’s five goal run to close the first half felt left Finland reeling, and the lead was pushed to six early in the third quarter. But Finland cut the margin to one a minute into the fourth quarter at 12-11.
This time, with Japan on the ropes, it ascended for a three-goal run to lead 15-11 with under five minutes to play, with a crucial diving goal from Shinya Tateishi from behind the net snapping an eight-minute deadlock.
It looked like Finland might be sunk, but Jarno Aaltonen sparked a late run with a rip from distance. Alex Kiviniemi then scored two in a row to tie the game improbably with the equalizer coming on a solo breakaway with two minutes left.
Undaunted by the Finns’ resiliency, Japan won the next faceoff and ultimately retook the lead on a nifty finish from Russel Bollinger. Akiteru Saito scored again on the next possession and Japan added an empty netter later to finish off the seismic win.
Hiroki Kanaya met the moment for Japan with three goals and four assists and Bollinger did his damage with five goals. Tomoki Umehara added a goal and four assists.
Robert Raittala led Finland with six goals and two assists and Jiri Wiren added six points. Goalkeeper Lauri Uusitalo kept the Finns in the game with 56 saves on a barrage of shots including 20 in the third quarter.
Japan secured a bye to the first round of the playoffs as the #8 seed.. Finland will compete in the play-in round on Tuesday as a second place pool finisher against Slovakia.
Belgium – Mexico
Belgium eked out a 12-11 thriller over Mexico for its first win at the men’s box championship.
Belgium is appearing in the championship for the first time, and its first men’s box win was as dramatic as they come.
Belgium led 7-3 early but Mexico’s attackers found their rhythm on the power play to cut the lead to 7-5 at halftime.
Mexico kept chipping away throughout the third quarter and finally tied the game in the fourth with 12 minutes to play before taking the lead a minute later on Joshua Sanchez’ third goal of the game.
Belgium tied the game and when it looked like it might take the lead on a power play, Fernando Garcia gave Mexico a late 11-10 edge.
But Belgium tied it up with under three minutes to play before Kyle Baker scored what would be the game-winning goal with just over a minute to go.
Baker ended with nine points on five points and four goals to power Belgium past the finish line. Tibor van den Wildenbergh added four points and goalkeeper Branko van den Wildenbergh made 40 saves.
Sanchez had seven points for Mexico and Charlie Frattini III added six points.
Both teams will be back in action on Wednesday in placement play.
Germany – China
Germany faced China in a must-win game to advance to the play-in round and came out on top in a 19-11 decision.
Germany jumped out to an early 7-1 lead after 19 minutes behind three goals from David Beckmann.
China was only able to close the gap to six goals at multiple points throughout the contest, and Germany’s defense prevented China from gaining a foothold in the game.
Lasse Volquardsen ended with a team-high eight points on five goals and three assists. Per-Anders Olters added seven points while Paul Noring and Leon Bohm had five.
Ben Stewart posted five goals and two assists for China.
Germany will be back in action in the play-in round on Tuesday against Hong Kong while China plays again on Wednesday against Belgium.
Czechia – Scotland
Czechia wrapped up its dominant pool play campaign with an 18-5 victory over Scotland.
A top-ten finisher in each edition of the men’s box championship, Czechia finished 3-0 and at the top of Pool D. Czechia took the fifth seed as the highest ranked pool winner and has a bye to the first round of the playoffs on Wednesday,
Scotland fell to 2-1 with the loss but took second place in the pool and will compete in the play-in round on Tuesday against Australia.
Czechia was all over Scotland from the start and led 5-1 at the end of the first quarter and 7-3 at halftime. From there Czechia went on a 7-0 run into the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach.
Jiri Loskot led the Czechs with nine points and Lukas Kucera added eight. Viktor Blaha was impressive as usual with 30 saves on 35 shots faced.
Luke Laskiewicz recorded a hat trick for Scotland.
Chinese Taipei – Jamaica
Jamaica earned its first-ever win at the men’s box championship, holding off Chinese Taipei 12-6.
The two teams were locked into a defensive contest for the first 25 minutes at 3-1 Jamaica until a late flurry of goals gave Jamaica a 5-2 lead at halftime.
Jamaica continued the opportunistic scoring in the first two minutes of the third quarter with three more goals to lead 8-2.
Chinese Taipei got within five in the fourth quarter but Jamaica’s defense was able to handily protect the lead the rest of the way, limiting Chinese Taipei to just 24 shots total on the night.
Damon Edwards starred in attack with three goals and four assists. Isaac Newland added four goals and two assists.
Zong-Yi Tsen made 55 saves for Chinese Taipei with an 82% save percentage.
Jamaica finished third in Pool D while Chinese Taipei took fourth. The two teams will compete in placement action on Wednesday.
Ireland – Poland
Ireland stayed perfect in pool play and rolled to a 17-5 win over Poland.
Ireland boasted one of the best defenses in Utica and allowed just 14 goals in three games.
Ireland had to labor for its 6-4 lead at halftime against Poland, but it locked the game down after that with an 8-1 run in the third quarter that was good enough for the win.
Brian Gillis led the Ireland attack with five goals and an assist while Brenden O’Sullivan posted a goal and four assists.
Goalkeeper Devlin Shanahan made 32 saves at an 86% rate.
Michael Gladki played the fourth quarter for Poland and made 22 saves at an 88% save percentage.
Ireland finished as the seventh seed and earned a bye into the first round of the playoffs.
Poland will face Puerto Rico in placement play on Wednesday.
Israel – Hong Kong, China
Israel handled a previously undefeated Hong Kong, China team, 17-8, to take the top spot in Pool B.
Israel has been one of the best teams in display in Utica and earned a bye into the first round of the playoffs as the #6 seed.
Hong Kong acquitted itself well to start and was tied 4-4 after 20 minutes. But Israel’s star attackers could be not denied and Parker Pipher and Zach Pall combined for three quick goals before halftime.
From there, Israel took over with a 7-1 third quarter and then saw out the game in the final frame.
Israel spread the goal scoring around as six different players finished with multiple goals, led by Pipher with four. Pall and Nathaniel Solomon had three.
Goalkeeper Jackson Hainer made 28 saves in three quarters of action with an 85% save percentage.
Hong Kong still advanced to the play-in round as the second place finisher in the pool, and will take on Germany on Tuesday.
Galleries: SUI-GRE | NED-AUT | ISV-ITA | SVK-PUR | AUS-HUN | JPN-FIN | BEL-MEX | GER-CHN | CZE-SCO | TPE-JAM | IRL-POL | ISR-HKG
Switzerland – Greece Gallery
Netherlands – Austria Gallery
U.S. Virgin Islands – Italy Gallery
Slovakia – Puerto Rico Gallery
Australia – Hungary Gallery
Japan – Finland Gallery
Belgium – Mexico Gallery
Germany – China Gallery
Czechia – Scotland Gallery
Chinese Taipei – Jamaica Gallery
Ireland – Poland Gallery
Israel – Hong Kong, China Gallery
