Australia pushed to the brink of relegation after defeat by UAE

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Australia are facing relegation to Division 2B after a 3-1 defeat at the hands of the UAE this morning.

In the second meeting between these two nations in two years, both teams needed a win to stay in the hunt for not only the medals but division survival.

It would be the UAE who would strike first through Sergei Kuznetsov just 6:25 in, after he slotted one past Alex Tetreault on the doorstep for a 1-0 lead.

Kieren Webster would answer back for Australia just 59 seconds from the end of the period. Webster jumped on the ice after Bert Malloy broke his stick and headed straight for the slot, steering a feed from Cam Todd into the net to draw Australia level.
It would finish 1-1 after 20 minutes, with Australia outshooting UAE 17-10 in the first frame.

The second period turned into an arm wrestle, with neither team gaining the ascendancy in the attacking zone.



However, the UAE would strike through Gleb Nikitin, who was allowed to walk in unchallenged and slip one between Tetreault’s blocker and the near post. Australia had a lone chance on the power play less than 6 minutes from the intermission but could not convert and headed into the second break down 2-1.

Kuznetsov struck again for the UAE 8 minutes into the final period, assisted by Ilia Chuikov and opened up a two-goal lead. Australia threw everything they had at the UAE as time expired, and despite two chances on the man-advantage were unable to force the game to overtime.

The UAE ran out 3-1 winners and moved into 4^th place on the standings. They will play Belgium in their final game of the tournament and for a chance at a medal.

Konstantin Belomoev made 43 saves for UAE in the win, while Tetreault saved 25 from 28 shots in the loss.

Australia now face Israel in a do-or-die match to determine who is relegated to Division 2B on Tuesday morning at 12am AEST. Australia must win in regulation to stay up, under IIHF tie-breaking procedures. An overtime win or loss mean Australia is relegated to Division 2B.