Morocco to Face Ireland for 2017 Development Cup Gold

Morocco and Ireland will play for the first ever Development Cup gold medal after sweeping both of their games on Saturday afternoon in Andorra.

Morocco dominated their contest against Andorra, scoring four goals in the first to take a 4-1 lead early. Mehdi Ghazi led the way with two goals in the opening frame, only to score four more before the game was over. The final score would prove to be 9-3, a score they'd demolish later in the day when they took on Portugal.

Portugal was fresh off of their first win against Andorra, but couldn't do anything to stop Morocco. Charles-Hichem Balha led the way with four goals and two more assists, helping his team easily defeat the Portuguese 11-2.

Ireland, the only team to have played in a IIHF World Championship event, also swept their two games after a 10-2 loss to Morocco on Friday. Declan Weir had a big night with two goals against Andorra, defeating the hosts 5-3 in the closet battle of the game. Prior to that, Ireland laid a beating on Portugal, but it didn't look so one-sided after two periods of play. Ireland was leading 5-3 at that point, but would score four more times to finish with the 9-4 victory.

Ireland and Morocco will meet for the gold medal game at 11:30 AM local time in Andorra, with Morocco trying to score their first ever gold medal. Ireland, on the other hand, will be playing for their second ever gold medal, seven years after taking the Division III Group A title in Luxembourg.

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