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It was three defeats out of three in the round robin stage of the 2013 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup, for Slovakia. However, the home side were able to give the fans something to cheer about in their game against the U.S.A. on Wednesday evening, as Adam Haščič and Christian Jaroš combined to score two goals in fifteen seconds, showing some resolve after the U.S. lead 4-0 after the first period. ‘I went on the ice and the coach told me to score Filip Kundrát’s goal’, said Haščič about his beautiful penalty shot.
The Slovak forward carried the puck wide on the left hand side. He looked like he was going to shoot on his backhand, but Haščič was able to shift his body weight back the way he came and tap the puck past Blake Weyrick. Jaroš scored with a slapshot fifteen seconds later to bring the Slovaks to within two of the U.S., but it was as close as they were going to get as the States scored four minutes later to make the game 5-2, which was how the match finished.
Adam, how would you assess your defeat to the U.S.A?
It’s hard to evaluate this at once. Maybe some viewers will look at our game differently. From the beginning the boys tried to fight like lions. We were motivated. However, later in the first period we conceded two or three goals and you know what happened after. It all went down from there.
You did not play a bad first period. I would say it was the best first period that Slovakia have played in each of the three matches, but did the goal gave the Americans the momentum?
The Americans don’t start playing from the second period, or even the third, as sometimes happens to us. They start from the first period, and from the first shift the coach says ‘kill’ for victory. They want their team to win.
What do you think when you learned that you would take the place of Filip Kundrát, who left the ice by a stretcher, to take the penalty shot?
I was on the ice and was there when it happened. Kundrát fell to the ice and hit his back. I went on the ice and the coach told me to score his goal.
The shot was a good one, it was a very nice move. Can you describe it?
Thank you for the compliment. I tried my new deke and it worked. I hope I get another penalty shot chance to do the same.
Is it now difficult to motivate yourself for the match for seventh place after missing out on the semi-finals?
It’s hard. We battled to make it into the semi-finals but it did not work. We must work hard in the next few days and we have to play well in the final game.