The Swiss team conceded a second defeat in the Friborg tournament. The Swiss selection lost 2-1 against the Czech Republic. Her lack of realism penalized her.
Facing the Czechs led by Kari Jalonen, the former coach of CP Bern, the Swiss sweated in the first period to try to pass the neutral zone well squared by the teammates of Matej Stransky. They had abandoned all fore-checking on the Swiss defenders to concentrate on the red line.
Patrick Fischer’s players took twenty minutes to adapt to the Czech game. But from the second period, they largely took over. Once again, the absence of a certified finisher spoiled Switzerland’s chances. The statistics of the shots of the second period – 17-1 for the Swiss selection! – only underlines the dominance of the Swiss. Noah Rod, twice in quick succession, and Scherwey, who arrived alone, met the doorman Marek Langhamer, usual doorman for Ilves Tampere in Finland.
Only Corvi scored
In the cage opposite, Connor Hughes made his debut in the national jersey. The Fribourg-Gottéron goalkeeper entered his match perfectly with several parries in the first third. In the second period, he was virtually unemployed with just one shot to parry. In the final third, the adopted Fribourgeois was surprised by a power shot from Jan Kostalek (50th) who took advantage of a poor exit from the Swiss zone.
The Czechs doubled the bet in the 55th favored by a rebound from the back band which allowed Jiri Smejkal to score the 2-0 from a fairly small angle. Patrick Fischer did not hesitate to release Hughes 5’20” from the end of regulation time. The Swiss then completely besieged the Czechs and finally managed to find the fault through Enzo Corvi (57th). The end of the game did not allow the Swiss to return to the height.
Already beaten by Sweden on Thursday (2-3 ap), Switzerland will be able to make a success of their exit this Sunday against Sweden (1:00 p.m.).
/ATS