Slovak Ice-hockey Team Reaches Olympics Quarter-finals despite Loss to Sweden

Milan, 14 February (TASR) - The Slovak ice-hockey team has made it to quarter-finals of the Winter Olympic Games in Milan, Italy.
        Despite losing 3:5 to Sweden on Saturday, the Slovak team coached by Vladimir Orszagh finished first in Group B, ahead of the favoured teams of Finland and Sweden.
        The Slovaks progressed on the basis of their position in the mini-table. They were level with Finland and Sweden on three points in their head-to-head standings and six points overall, but Slovakia secured top spot thanks to the best goal difference among the trio (7–6). Finland finished second in the group (5–5), while the "Tre Kronor" ended third with a negative goal difference of 6–7.
        The Slovaks opened the tournament in Milan with a surprise 4–1 victory over Finland. That was followed by a 3–2 win against Italy. Therefore, they only needed to lose to Sweden by no more than two goals to make it to the quarter-finals, combined with the expected Finnish victory over Italy.         
        Slovakia's decisive goal on Saturday was scored in the final minute of the match against Sweden by forward Dalibor Dvorsky.        
        The Slovak ice-hockey team will thus appear in the Olympic quarter-finals for the second consecutive Games. Four years ago in Beijing, it even made it to the semi-finals, where it was beaten by the eventual Olympic champions Finland. However, Slovakia succeeded in the match for a bronze medal, claiming a historic third-place finish with a 4–0 victory over Sweden.