The regular season of the Republican Hockey League is coming to its end – to be soon followed by playoff matches. On February 22nd, the President’s team played against the Mogilev Region squad at Minsk’s Olympic Arena, and the same opponents will meet in a semi-final: the Minsk match became another opportunity for them to take a closer look at each other.
The hockey players of the President’s team opened the scoring in the fifth minute of the match: Aleksei Shantyka – assisted by Nikolai Lukashenko and Maxim Parfeyevets – scored. Soon, Andrei Antonov sent the second puck into the Mogilev players’ goal, and before the end of the opening period, the squads managed to exchange goals twice more: the guests responded to Shantyka’s accurate shot by a goal from Nikita Somov, and then the goal from Andrei Kostitsyn (assisted by Aleksandr Lukashenko and Andrei Bashko) was followed by Leonid Olkhovoi’s.
After the first period, Aleksei Shantyka noted that the opponent’s young team was represented by interesting, fast and goal-oriented players. The guests confirmed the correctness of the striker’s words: at the beginning of the second period, Sergei Zubarev’s accurate shot reduced the gap with the President’s team to a minimum. Actually, the hosts were not going to part with the initiative, and in the second period, they made the Mogilev guests feel upset three times: Pavel Volchek scored twice, and another goal came from Maxim Parfeyevets.
In the third period, the fight became even more intense: at its start, Nikita Somov scored, but Oleg Antonenko from the President’s team responded immediately. After that, the Mogilev Region team performed successfully three more times: Matvey Vinkevich, Andrei Savchenko and Nikita Somov each scored a goal. The scoreboard featured 8:7 in favour of the President’s team, and the intrigue reached its maximum! At the last minute, the guests replaced their goalkeeper with a sixth field player, but failed to score. As a result, the President’s team celebrated its sixth victory of the season.
The hockey fans present at the Olympic Arena followed the match with great interest, admiring its intensity and the overall atmosphere. The hockey players, in turn, did not stop thanking all those who came to support them. “The atmosphere is great! It’s very pleasant to play here. We can even hardly hear each other because of the support coming from the stands,” Nikita Somov, who was recognised as the best player of the Mogilev Region team, smiled.
“The support here is always great,” Aleksei Shantyka agreed. “It’s nice to see so many people, children. It’s very joyful to play in such an atmosphere!”
A rich programme was prepared for the fans – as is traditional: during the breaks, they enjoyed the performances of artistes and took part in competitions and, after the match, were presented with soft toys by the hockey players.
photos: www.president.gov.by