The first week of the Advent season was an eventful one for UNI GYŐR ETO HC: the Széchenyi University team competed in 6 matches in 8 days, 5 of which they left the ice victorious:

• On November 30th we hosted the Óbuda Hockey Academy in the Andersen League, where we outplayed the team from the capital with a confident 6:2 win.
• The next day, on 1 December, our youngsters hosted the Sharks of Sportland at home in the U21 championship, winning 8:2.
• On Tuesday, December 3rd, the boys had a real challenge ahead of them, the Győr University team was the guest of the Erste League UTE in the third round of the Hungarian Cup. Although Újpest’s superiority was unquestionable throughout the match, we managed to find a gap in the shield and score 4 goals against the Hungarian top league team. Final score 4:10 :
  • “I’m completely satisfied with the four goals scored, but not with the ten. We are not used to this tempo and we made mistakes that the opponent at this level exploits mercilessly. I’m sorry that we had some short-cuts for several minutes, but I still think that we didn’t break the hockey with a pick, we tried to play back and forth, and even managed to do it in some parts, I’m proud of my team!”
• On the second weekend of Advent, our team travelled to Auschwitz, Poland, where they played 3 matches in the 3-day Winter Cup of the EUHL(International University League):
  • On Friday, December 6, we played the host team, UHT SABERS, and won a really close match with a 6:4 score. Interestingly, the Polish team also featured Bendegúz Vadócz from Budapest, who is playing in Poland this season as a legionnaire.
  • On Saturday the 7th, we were up against PHILOSOPHERS NITRA, who we had a tough match against last season, but this time there was no question who would take the 3 points. In fact, the first period, 5:0, was the deciding factor, and in the end we outscored our opponents from Nitra by 10 goals(13:3).
  • In the last match of the weekend (Dec.8) we faced last year’s silver medallist of the championship, GLADIATORS TRENCIN. We had already met them earlier this season, losing 5-3 on home soil, so we had something to fight back for. We dominated the game and didn’t give our opponents a chance, winning this match 6:1.
  • As the winner of the Malopolska Winter Cup III the boys left the ice on Sunday night. The Polish university team came second, while last year’s EUHL silver medallists Trenčín finished third ahead of Nitra. A Hungarian university team has never won such a cup in the history of the EUHL!

We have had a truly outstanding performance in the last little over a week, our players have not crumbled under the extra pressure, and in fact have delivered their best performance of the season so far. It’s almost impossible to single out one player, as they fought as a team through these matches, but it’s worth mentioning Norbert Lévai , who played in all the matches (6 in 8 days) and always gave his best.

The team will travel to Óbuda in the Andersen League on Saturday, and then on Wednesday 18th UTE will play the return leg of the Hungarian Cup in Győr.

Go UNI GYŐR ETO HC!