Slovak Ice-hockey Team Makes It to Olympics Semifinals after Beating USA 3:2

Beijing, February 16 (TASR) – The Slovak national ice-hockey team made it to semifinals of the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing after a 3-2 quarter-final shootout win over the United States on Wednesday.

The scorer of the winning shootout goal was Peter Cehlarik. Slovakia will now compete for a medal at a Winter Olympics for the first time in twelve years.

Coach Craig Ramsay’s team took the lead in the 12th minute when Juraj Slafkovsky scored his fifth Olympic goal. The Americans managed to draw level when Nick Abruzzese scored in the 20th minute and went ahead thanks to a goal by Sam Hentges in the second period. Slovakia forced the game into overtime when Marek Hrivik scored only 44 seconds before the end of regular playing time. As nobody scored in overtime, a shootout followed in which Cehlarik decided the match.

Slovakia have made it to the quarterfinals at a Winter Olympics only four times in the history of the independent Slovakia, going on to the semifinals twice.