Switzerland Fends Off Czech Republic to Win

Switzerland goaltender Patrick Schopf had been battered for nine goals and could only crouch in his crease in the waning seconds Wednesday afternoon and watch the Czech Republic attack with an extra skater.

But Schopf, who had 47 saves, got a leg pad on a slap shot by Czech Marek Vorel with three seconds left, deflecting it to the boards to preserve a wild, 10-9, victory at the In-Line Hockey World Championship.

The victory moved Switzerland into a semifinal medal-round game against Canada at 4:30 p.m. today at the Pond. Had the Czechs won, they would have faced the United States in the other semifinal at 7:30 p.m. Instead, the Americans will face Russia, an 8-4 winner over Finland.

“Something went wrong with our defense,” Swiss captain Andre Rotheli said. “We weren’t tired. We had a day off [Tuesday]. I think we were just not ready in the head.”

Playing before only a handful of spectators at Disney Ice, Switzerland led, 10-6, with 7 1/2 minutes left in the game. A goal by defenseman Thomas Kunzi came off a nice drop pass from Daniel Giger gave the Swiss a four-goal lead.

But the explosive Czechs, who had scored 64 goals in the preliminary round, got more aggressive.

Vaclav Eiseli scored his eighth goal of the tournament with 6:51 remaining and Likas Smital stole the puck 12 seconds later and beat Schopf with his seventh of the event, to trail, 10-8.

When Michal Konecny scored his eighth goal of the tournament with 54 seconds left, things looked sticky for the Swiss. But Schopf redeemed himself in the final 20 seconds by stopping four Czech shots.

In the other medal-round game:

Russia 8, Finland 4--Finland took a 4-3 lead with nine minutes to go, then collapsed. The Russians scored five goals in the final five minutes and will meet the United States. The U.S. waltzed to an 11-3 victory over Russia on opening night.

In non-medal round games:

The Netherlands 7, Australia 6--Holland railed from a 6-2 halftime deficit and got the winner with less than two minutes left from team captain Tommie Hartogs.

Italy 12, Japan 3--Alexander Gschliesser scored three goals and added an assist, equaling his entire point output for the tournament.

Notes

Today’s schedule: Consolation games at Disney Ice, Australia vs. Japan, noon; Austria vs. Italy, 3 p.m.; Germany vs. Netherlands, 6 p.m. Consolation round at the Pond, Finland vs. Czech Republic, 1:30 p.m. Semifinals at the Pond, Switzerland vs. Canada, 4:30 p.m.; Russia vs. United States, 7:30 p.m.