For the second time, Széchenyi University organised the UNIVERSITY OF GYŐR HOCKEY CUP, which is now part of the EUHL events and not only a 4-team competition, but the results of the matches are also part of the championship. Once again this year, the EUHA, the League’s leadership, was represented at the highest level. Unfortunately, Vice President Frantisek Sadecky and Secretary General Peter Spankovic were not able to present the tournament trophy to the hosts, but they praised the team’s performance, the organisation and the way the tournament was run. They both expressed that it is important for the EUHL that Széchenyi University should be part of this championship in the long term and that more Hungarian university teams should follow the example of UNI GYŐR.

4 teams and 4 nations were represented in the 3-day competition:

  • SAPIENTIA U23 – Karcfalva, Romania
  • UHT SABERS – Oswiecim, Poland
  • UNIVERSITY SPARTACUS – Košice, Slovakia
  • UNI GYŐR ETO HC – Győr, Hungary

6 matches took place from 9-11 November and the excitement was not to be complained about, after the first two days (4 meetings) all 4 teams had 3-3 points, so the last day of the tournament decided the standings. The last match (UNI GYŐR vs SPARTACUS) was an interesting situation where both teams were in a life or death struggle. The winning team will be the champion of the whole cup, while the losing team will finish last.

Out of the 6 matches of the UNIVERSITY OF GYŐR HOCKEY CUP II, 3 were played by the home team and all three matches were entertaining and spectacular. It was great to see hundreds of people cheering for the team at every game in Győr for three consecutive days, according to Péter Boros, the sporting director of the university team, who is proud that the event was a success not only for the teams’ performance on the pitch, but also as one of the city’s international university events. “Even though Jábor Bendegúz from Győr suffered a broken nose in the last game and a player from Kosice had to be examined in hospital for a suspected concussion in an earlier game, apart from these, a really sporting, but manly tough, open and honest hockey of quality until the last minute was played during the three days in the Győr Ice Sports Centre.”

Similar vision for the future by Szombati-Serfőző Eszter the director of the firm governing UNI GYŐR ETO HC, UNI PRO SPORT LTD, who watched the team’s matches herself, and was delighted that at least the best player of the tournament award went to the captain of the Győr team, Benedek Madácsi at the end of the cup. She said: ‘although we didn’t manage to keep the trophy at home like last year, the boys have nothing to be ashamed of, based on the performance on the pitch. It was also nice to receive praise from the EUHL leaders, who recognised the Széchenyi University team for their work both on and off the ice. We have also discussed with the leaders about future opportunities and we see a great potential for athletes from overseas to come to study at the University of Győr in the future. So not only a Hungarian, but also a Canadian hockey player can have the opportunity to get a marketable university degree without having to quit hockey, while pursuing a higher level sports career.”

The opening match was played between the teams of Sapientia University of Szeklerland and Spartacus University of Košice. According to the paper (which was later consistently overturned in almost all the games of the cup) we could have witnessed a confident Szekler victory, but the Slovakian team always managed to recover and come back into the game, and in the third period they managed to turn the game around, surprising us immediately.
Detailed statistics of the match are available HERE.
On Thursday at 18:30 our team made its debut against UHT Sabers from Poland. We managed to get into the rhythm of the game at a very good pace, although the visitors managed to catch up in the second period, but we won confidently in front of a good crowd.
Detailed statistics of the match are available HERE.
The afternoon of the middle day of the tournament opened with Sabers vs Spartacus, where the team from Kassa continued their good form from the previous day and quickly took a 2 goal lead, but to their surprise the Sabers managed to turn the game around and check into the 3 point camp.
Detailed statistics of the match are available HERE.
On Friday, the fans could prepare for a real gala match, two “green and white” teams, Sapientia U23 and UNI GYŐR faced each other on the ice. Unfortunately, this meeting did not go according to our plans, although we had more shots on goal than our opponent, only a few of our shots crossed the goal line, so the Szekler team could be happy with a confident victory.
But the atmosphere could not be complained about, and the cheering of the crowd of nearly 400 made the meeting a real gala.
This result left all teams with 3 points after two days, with the decider down to Saturday’s meetings.
Detailed statistics of the match are available HERE.
You can’t say that the last day’s matches would be boring, but they managed to exceed expectations. The Sabers vs Sapientia continued the series of fierce clashes, no decision was made in normal time, so the only overtime of the tournament was held, which the Sabers did not even draw, and decided the fate of the +1 point within 1 minute.
Detailed statistics of the match are available HERE.
The excitement didn’t end for the last match, the final order was still wide open, it was a real mathematical task to calculate the possible results. Our team faced Spartacus University of Kosice, both teams knew that if they won in regulation time, they would win the championship trophy, if they lost, they would finish last in the cup.
The whistle was preceded by a ceremonial puck toss, performed by František Sádecký, Vice-President of the EUHA and Dr. Tamás Gyömörei, Head of the Sports Centre of Széchenyi University.
The teams fought each other according to the stakes, and the audience could see a fierce, hard-fought match until the last second, and we could be excited about the result until the final whistle. With a 3:2 lead we tried an empty-goal line-up in the last minute, but we couldn’t get the extra time goal.
Detailed statistics of the match are available HERE.
The final event of the cup was the award ceremony, where the “Player of the Cup” special prize was awarded to our excellent player Benedek Madácsi, who finished the 3 days with 6 goals and 2 assists.
The trophies were presented by Eszter Szombati-Serfőző (Managing Director – Uni Pro Sport Ltd.), Dr. Igor Toth (Professional Director – Győri ETO HC), František Sádecký (Vice President – EUHA) and Peter Špankovič (Secretary General – EUHA).
The final result of the tournament:
  1. University Spartacus (6 points)
  2. UHT Sabers Oświęcim (5 points)
  3. Sapientia U23 (4 points)
  4. UNI GYŐR ETO HC (3 points)

This season’s started a month later than usual, in October, due to the energy price spike. In addition, from this season onwards, the adult team will compete in two leagues. In addition to the Andersen League, Széchenyi University also started a team in the EUHL, the European University League. This is how it could happen that by the beginning of November the boys had already played 10 matches, not to mention that 10 players from UNI GYŐR ETO HC, which also competes in the U21 age group, which makes up almost half of the team, were also involved in the adult championship. So there were players who played 15 matches in a month in just over 30 days. As everyone is competing on an amateur contract and either studying or working alongside their sport, they have been under a heavy workload over the last month and a half.

Both the Andersen League and U21 team, which is maintained in cooperation with Győri ETO HC, and the university team in the EUHL are coached by Mátyás Odnoga and Lóránt Láday. The two professionals have been linked to hockey in Győr for decades. Lóránt Láday’s two sons are also mainstays of the team, while Mátyás Odnoga is also playing his part as a striker. Understandably, both were disappointed after the last match of the cup. According to Lóránt Láday, the tense period behind us has affected the boys’ performance, but they can be really proud of themselves because they fought until the last minute. In a match where the result will determine whether the team finishes first or last in the cup, it’s no wonder that hands shake. Mátyás Odnoga said that it was good to see the team unity and that everyone was fighting on the ice, the guys deserved this win based on the last games. Both coaches agree that the EUHL teams have a completely different approach to hockey and it would be difficult to compare it to the Hungarian Andersen League, but the league, which is made up mainly of Slovak teams, has the absolute feel of a hockey nation with a long tradition of hockey, both on and off the ice.
After a long march, the boys will have a few days off, but on Saturday evening, November 18, they will take to the ice against last year’s Andersen League champions, the MAC Icons in Budapest, in order to remain undefeated at the top of the league table with a win.

Photos of the tournament by Dr. Krisztina Németh-Csigai