Heartbreak for Australia as Belgium mount late comeback in thriller

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Australia have suffered a 3-1 loss to the hands of Belgium overnight at the IIHF World Championships, the Belgians scoring twice in the final minutes to snatch victory from the Mighty Roos. It is Australia’s second consecutive loss, making their next clash with the Netherlands pivotal if they are to avoid the potential of relegation.

Australia began strongly, putting four of the first five shots of the game on goal. Belgium had their opportunities too, but Canberra Brave goalie Alex Tetreault’s aggressive play from his crease meant the Belgians never really looked like scoring through the first 20 minutes, despite outshooting the Aussies in the first period 12-7.

The Mighty Roos would find their best chances of the game on the powerplay, given a prime opportunity to begin the second period after Belgium’s Tanguy Auger was called for slashing with 1:26 remaining in the first. It enabled them to finally display the strength of the Australian powerplay units that were seen in their practice matches and the Trans-Tasman series.

It all came to fruition after failing to score against Serbia, with Northstar Ethan Hawes receiving a beautiful feed from Cameron Todd before tucking in the shot through the pads of Belgium goaltender Jelle Lievens. While technically an even strength goal, the score was created from the slick puck movement of Australia’s top man advantage unit, Hawes notching Australia’s first of the tournament three seconds after the conclusion of Auger’s slashing call.

Similarly to Australia, however, Belgium would build momentum through extended puck possession from powerplay opportunities. While they failed to score while up a man after Newcastle forward Casey Kubara was called for hooking, the Belgians struck just a minute following its conclusion, Tanguy Auger making up for his earlier penalty on the feed from Lucas Boni.

There was plenty of edge in the third period, but Belgium established control after a poorly timed hit from Maxim Lyashenko sent Australia on the penalty kill. The Belgians effectively screened the net as a wrist shot from the point from the nation’s captain Vadim Gyesbreghs flew through, giving Belgium their first lead of the game. Two minutes later, the skippers would be involved again to extend Belgian’s lead to 3-1.

With just five minutes remaining, Gyesbreghs led the breakout from Belgium’s defensive zone with a beautiful stretch pass to Iniaz Steyaert. He then fluttered the puck with precision, spinning to open up space between himself and his defender, finding Tanguy Auger on the rush who buried the uncontested chance. That sealed the deal for the former Division 2B nation, the Belgians superb defence proving to be a factor that could achieve them promotion in back-to-back World Championship campaigns.

There are many positives to take away from this game for Australia despite the loss but most notably would be how Australia’s young core continues to elevate their play at the international level. 23-year-old Hawes was perhaps best-on-ice for the Mighty Roos and against Serbia, Adrenaline young gun forward Daniel Chen received Australia’s player of the match award. The future is bright and there’s no doubt things will click for a full 60 minutes soon for the entire squad.

Australia will come up against the Netherlands next on May 2 at 8:30pm AEST, looking to upset the currently undefeated Dutch, who have beaten the UAE and Israel 5-0 and 6-2 respectively this tournament.