MINSK, 20 January (BelTA) – The Belarus president team has won its fourth consecutive victory in the new season of the Republican Hockey League, BelTA has learned.
The head of state’s ice hockey team beat the Mogilev Oblast team 8:4 (2:0, 2:1, 4:3) in Minsk-based Olympic Arena on 20 January.
The home team immediately unleashed a barrage of attacks on the opponents’ goal. Two minutes into the game Nikolai Stasenko scored a goal. The presidential team continued to dominate, but only three minutes before the break Artyom Antonenko scored the second goal after a pass from his father Oleg Antonenko. After the break Mogilev Oblast players became more active, and in the middle of the second period Sergei Zubarev cut the gap to a minimum, but shortly after that Nikolai Lukashenko scored twice in a row. As soon as the third period of the game began, the teams hit each other’s goals twice: Denis Kurdeko and the tournament’s top scorer Andrei Kostitsyn scored for the home team, while the visitors responded with accurate shots by Mikhail Kishchuk and Ivan Kotashenko. Then Artyom Antonenko and Sergei Zubarev scored their second goals of this game. Twenty seconds before the end of the game Artyom Karkotsky scored yet another time, ending the game with 8:4 in favor of the presidential team.
Nikolai Lukashenko (the Belarus president team) and Sergei Tarasenko (Mogilev Oblast) were recognized the best players of today’s game. They were awarded prizes by Ivan Tsikhan, two-time Olympic medalist and two-time world champion, chairman of the Belarusian Athletics Federation.
During breaks spectators watched impressive performances by Belarusian pop singers just like during all the other matches of this tournament. In addition, the most active fans took part in exciting contests right on the ice, the winners of which received prizes from the Presidential Sports Club. According to the established tradition, right after the game the fans received dozens of toys from players of the Belarus president team.
At the start of the tournament the president’s team defeated the Brest Oblast team (7:2), then beat ice hockey players from Minsk Oblast (9:4), and crushed the team of Gomel Oblast (12:6).
The scoreboard is now topped by Andrei Kostitsyn, who has 12 points (6 pucks and 6 assists).
The president team is a 14-time winner of the national amateur tournament, while ice hockey players of Gomel Oblast and Minsk Oblast have won the championship once each. In the final series of last season, the president’s ice hockey team twice defeated the Minsk Oblast team - 6:1 and 6:4. Bronze awards went to Brest Oblast players, who defeated the Gomel Oblast team in the match for the third place with a score of 5:3.
The organizers of the amateur hockey tournament are the Presidential Sports Club, the Sports and Tourism Ministry, and the Minsk City Executive Committee.
