Great Britain Men’s Under 20’s coach Slava Koulikov is remaining positive as his side close on Saturday’s final game against Spain.
Koulikov’s men won their second game of the week with a 4-2 win over Romania, the only team unbeaten going into today’s action
And the GB coach was pleased by what he saw in his team’s performance going into tomorrow’s second rest day.
“This was a hard-fought win against a side previously unbeaten in the tournament,” he said.
“We looked good going forward once again but I think we tightened up at the back compared to the defeat by Estonia.
“We now have a day off to work on preparations for the final game and we are still in the hunt for a medal, so anything can happen.”
It was another trek to victory as Captain Liam Kirk led the way with two goals and two assists in the 4-2 over the Romanians.
Kirk opened the scoring with his fourth goal of the tournament to give GB the lead on the powerplay after nine minutes when his shot from point found its way past Romanian netminder Ors Adorjan.
Two goals in the opening 43 seconds of the second period put GB in prime position as Tyler Cooper fired a wrist shot from Jordan Kelsall’s assist.
WATCH NOW: GB Men’s Under 20’s post game reaction
Then Kieran Brown scoring into an unguarded net from close range to open up a three-goal lead and make life a little more comfortable for the GB boys.
Another from Kirk for his second of the game, set up by Mac Howlett all but confirmed victory, but there was still a long way to go before anything was certain.
Adam Vizi pulled one back for the Romanians at the backdoor which Eduard Casaneanu firing across GB goalie Jordan McLaughlin (pictured) and into the net for a second one, but the game and the points belonged to GB.
ELSEWHERE
Estonia head into the final day with a three-point advantage, needing just a point fro Saturday’s game with Romania to see if they take the gold medal.
They put themselves in a great position with a comfortable 7-2 win over South Korea, starting with two goals in the second period by Kristofer Jogi and Emil Esko Key Svartbro.
Korea hit back through Seokhwan Kim and Geon Woo Kim early in the third, but the Estonanis found another gear, scoring five more to give them another victory in front of their home support.
Lithuania could give them something to think about in the second game against South Korea after they comfortably took care of Spain in the day’s opening game, winning 4-0.
Egidijus Binkulis gave them the lead in the first period and they strengthened their hold on the game with further finishes from Tomas Krukovski with two and Martynas Grinius, setting up a fascinating last day on Saturday.
