The Swiss national ice hockey team loses for the first time in the fifth game of its World Championship preparations. Despite an improved performance, they lost 2:3 on penalties against Latvia in Riga.
24.04.2025, 21:24
24.04.2025, 21:29
SDA
The Swiss only gained the upper hand against the home team in the final third. In the penalty shoot-out, however, only Luca Fazzini scored, while the Latvians scored twice.
The young Davos striker Simon Knak made an impressive showing. When he made it 2:2 twelve minutes before the end, he energetically beat a defender in front of the goal and was able to shoot in a precise pass from Tyler Moy from a completely free position. However, not everything went right for the Swiss.
Even though a number of important players, from the play-off finalists ZSC Lions and Lausanne and possibly from North America, will join the team again, it has to be said after five World Cup preparation games that the defensive suit is not yet right. A total of thirteen goals were conceded, always at least two - even against the French, who are actually much weaker.
Grégory Hofmann scored after just 87 seconds to make it 1:0, the Zug striker, who had just become a father for the second time, benefiting from a blatant defensive error for his first international goal in four (!) years. Nevertheless, it took the Swiss more than a third to match the level of the tenacious and physically strong Latvians. In the two games in France in recent weeks, they had clearly dominated visually. This time, they faced an opponent on an equal footing in an electrifying atmosphere at the 2021 and 2023 World Cup stadiums, which were sold out with over 10,000 spectators.
It took a strong Stéphane Charlin in goal for a long time to avoid falling behind by more than one goal. The Swiss got into the game better as the game wore on, but were still the losers in the end.
Telegram:
Latvia - Switzerland 3:2 (1:1, 1:0, 0:1, 0:0) n.p.
Riga. - 10'200 spectators (sold out). - SR Buss/Ansons (LAT). - Goals: 2. Hofmann (Senteler) 0:1. 12. Lavins (Tumanovs) 1:1. 30. Tumanovs (Lavins) 2:1 (own goal Moy). 49. Knak (Moy) 2:2 - Penalty shoot-out: Fazzini 0:1, Andersons-; Hofmann-, Egle 1:1; Moy-, Daugavins-; Rohrbach-, Dzierkals-; Ramel-, Rihards Burkarts 2:1. - Penalties: 3 times 2 minutes against Latvia, 5 times 2 minutes against Switzerland.
Latvia: Gudlevskis; Zile, Mamcics; Freibergs, Jaks; Komuls, Tumanovs; Sejejs, Bergmanis; Daugavins, Prohorenkovs, Ravinskis; Dzierkals, Egle, Rihards Burkarts; Lavins, Rullers, Andersons; Skrastins, Vitolins, Gavars; Osmanis.
Switzerland: Charlin; Dominik Egli, Jung; Karrer, Berni; Fora, Dionicio; Wüthrich, Chanton; Rohrbach, Moy, Marchon; Bertschy, Senteler, Hofmann; Ambühl, Walser, Knak; Fazzini, Bader, Ramel.
Remarks: Switzerland without Schmid (sick), Loeffel, Lehmann, Ritzmann, Genoni (not in the line-up and Aeschlimann (substitute goalie). 13th Fazzini. 54th Hofmann. - Powerplay output: Latvia 0/4, Switzerland 0/2.
