Yunost Minsk takes its revenge

The day finally comes: after one year Yunost and Red Bulls Salzburg are back on ice to decide Continental Cup. Last year in Grenoble, Yunost come to France as favorite, lost the first game 5-3 against the Austrians, the future winner of Cup, after being ahead 2-0. It was a game with a lot of mistakes by the Belarusian as repeatedly remembered by Mikhail Zakharov in these days. The Yunost coach probably waits more than others for this chance to cancel that episode in his successful career. Pierre Pagè’s team showed to be a solid team in this tournament and dreams of repeating last year´s success, earning a Champions League spot. An important goal for the Red Bulls management.



Zakharov changed the lines in comparison with the other games. Oleg Shafarenko moves from the 1st to the 4th, replaced by Baranov, and the Zadelenov – Senkevich line, less used yesterday is tonight the second line.
The Yunost start in front of more than 14,000 fans is scathing. At 02:46 Aleksandr Materukhin flies on Divis´ cage. The Austrian goalie is superbly saving the tentative but can´t do anything on Aleksandr Borovkov rebound. 1-0 Yunost and the crowd is pushing the home team. Red Bulls is squeezed into its defense zone, unable to react at the Belarusian pressure. At 08:37 Andrei Stepanov showed a masterpiece, scoring 2-0 with a solo act, finished with a shot in Divis´ corner.
But the nightmare isn´t finished for Salzburg. 2 consecutive penalties bring a 5vs3 situation - very well played by Yunost. At 18:03 Andrei Bashko pointes 3-0 and a total dominance by Yunost. But hockey is a strange sport: in this only 1st period action, Ryan Duncan is tripped and earns a Penalty Shot very well converted for 3-1 that closes the first period and 20 terrible minutes for Red Bulls.

The second period has apparently another storyboard but it´s obvious that Red Bulls, having to recover 2 goals are vulnerable to counterattacks. Mika Oksa shines in the first minutes, denying goals to Lakos, Heshka and Latusa, while his teammates tantalizing Divis with fast counterattacks through an opened defense. At 27:23 the move is perfect. The puck passes quick from Stepanov to Slysh until the perfect Kitarov finish. A tough punch for Red Bulls and Senkevich and Materukhin could definitely close the game but Divis is alert and the Austrian boat didn´t sink, but steer a curse is another question for the Pagè troop. The period closes with some attempts by the Austrians but no one is difficult for Oksa. A minor injury for Andrei Karev, out after a bad fall.



The game destiny is probably already written, but in the third period Yunost wasn´t able to give the final punch. Divis is great stopping several chances. Steve Regier scored a second goal and tries seconds after to add the third but Oksa denies him. The Finnish goalie has a lot of work because the Austrians don´t surrender while the home team has a downturn. Regier and Welser had very good chances to score. Yunost also suffers the loss of Yaroslav Chupris, injured, increasing the Austrian regret for a so bad played first period. The phantom of an incredible comeback flies on Minsk Arena at 47:10 when Douglas Lynch scores the third Red Bulls´ goal, forcing Zakharov to call a timeout.
When speaker announces two minutes to play the tension is great, all eyes are on Divis, waiting for his exit. He was pulled off the ice with one minute to play but Yunost resists to the pressure and the crowd can explode along with the players at the final horn. Revenge is served; Yunost Minsk is 2010-11 Continental Cup winner and earns a spot for the next Champions League. Red Bulls cruelty pays for a horrible first period.
Single awards goes to: Mika Oksa as best goalie, SønderjyskE ´s Dustin Vanballegooie as best defender and Ryan Duncan as best forward and top scorer.



The wonderful atmosphere finished at the door of the press centre. A very angry Pierre Pagè has many critic comments to give: "We expressed our concerning at the referees supervisor before the game about what could happen and this happens. The game was totally out of control! We come to win and we fall but we can´t do more, I repeat, the game was totally out of control. If we played this match in Finland or Switzerland both teams passed 40 minutes in the penalty box. Minsk has a great team, a great venue and a nice crowd, pity for what happened on ice. I don´t know why this happens, it was very different from last year in Grenoble".
An embarrassing Mikhail Zakharov can only say: "It´s difficult to express any thought after these declarations, what I can say is that we prepared a lot for this tournament, studying every opponents and different tactics. It´s difficult for us to play at this level because during the season we have a few games at a decent level in the domestic league, and today we played the third period without two defenders. About this, I can confirm Karev´s injury seems severe."

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