Alessandro Segafredo (back right) celebrates with Daniel Tedesco and Bryce Misley. © Vanna Antonello (9)

Thanks to the youngsters: Italy defeats Hungary

The Italian national ice hockey team secured its first victory at the Sosnowiec Cup in Poland on Friday. Jukka Jalonen's team, thanks to its promising young players, brought a very young Hungarian team to its knees.

07 February 2025

From: leo

After the 2:5 against the host At the start of the tournament, Peter Spornberger & Co. faced Hungary, who are relying on youth in this tournament. Eleven players were born in the new century. For the Azzurri, only Filippo Rigoni, Alessandro Segafredo and Damian Clara could claim this. The latter two became the match winners in the 2-1 victory.

The Azzurri, who are peppered with ten (!) dual nationals, had more of the game at the beginning - Davide Conci and Matteo Gennaro, among others, missed great chances - but after 20 minutes it was 1:0 for the Hungarians. Doman Szongoth, only 16 years old, played the Blue Team's defense dizzy in the offensive zone and caught Clara with a precise shot at the far post.

The Segafredo Show

At the beginning of the middle period, Italy had to survive a two-man deficit before Zurich striker Segafredo equalized. The 20-year-old was sent on his way by Daniel Tedesco and scored with a great shot under the crossbar. Before the second break, Clara was lucky that Tamas Sarpatki only hit the post.

After the restart, Gergo Ambrus also failed to score on the goal frame. The omnipresent Segafredo suffered the same fate shortly afterwards. However, two minutes before the end, the left-footed player was there to score the winning goal. Tedesco gave him a pass, Segafredo, standing on the goal line, moved in front of the goal, gave Bence Balizs no chance and scored the 2-1 winning goal. Clara, who defused 25 shots and shone with a save rate of 96,2 percent, then held on to the lead until the end. The tournament will conclude on Friday with the match against Slovenia (18.15 p.m.).

Hungary – Italy 1:2

Hungary: Balizs (Vay); Donat Horvath-Haranghy, Szabo-Csollak, Ortenszky-Tornyai, Szathmary-Farkas; Sarpatki-Sofron-Csanyi, Mihaly-Nagy-Schlekmann, Ambrus-Nemes-Varga, Terbocs-Szongoth-Bence Horvath.
coach: Majoross

Italy: Clara (Fadani); Spornberger-Larkin, Trivellato-Pietroniro, Gios-Di Perna, Di Tomaso-Rein; Ierullo-Gennaro-Sarcino, Tedesco-Misley-Segafredo, Frigo-Catenacci-Conci, Rigoni-Deluca-Marchetti.
coach: Noble

Gates: 1:0 Szongoth (17.58), 1:1 Segafredo (30.54), 1:2 Segafredo (57.47)