Machine-translated from Hungarian.
You rarely see a season opener like this! From Wednesday to Friday, the Győr University Ice Sports Centre was the hub of European university ice hockey: we hosted the fifth edition of the University of Győr Hockey Cup, which kicked off the EUHL’s 2026/27 season. Four teams, six matches and sixty goals – an average of ten per match. On the ice, young players who play ice hockey alongside their studies went head-to-head: Opole United, a team of North American university students; PUHA SELECT, a selection of Polish university and secondary school students; DEAC from Debrecen, and us, the team from Széchenyi István University.
We set out with high hopes: last year we finished top of the EUHL regular season, won the bronze medal at the season-ending Sekeráš Trophy, and Győr also picked up plenty of individual league awards. Bence Dézsi was named the league’s Most Valuable Player, Benedek Horváth the best defender, Sebestyén Csata the top goalscorer, and head coach Mátyás Odnoga was named Coach of the Year. The new season, however, started from scratch – and on our home ice.
Wednesday: a twelve-goal thriller against the eventual winners
On the opening night, we were immediately up against the eventual tournament winners, Opole United. In the 4th minute, Bendegúz Keve Sárkány scored our first EUHL goal of the season on a power play (1–0), Toussaint equalised, also on a power play (1–1), but Benedek Madácsi put us back in front within a minute (2–1). However, in the second half of the first period, the Polish team scored three times: goals from Shuttleworth, Socha and Perreault meant we went into the break trailing 2–4, and in the second period, Black extended their lead (2–5).
In the final period, István Süveg pulled one back from a penalty shot (3–5), Duquette replied whilst his team were a man down (3–6), and Socha made it 3–7 with his second goal. The net rattled twice more in the closing stages: first Sebestyén Csata (4–7), then Ádám Balogh on a power play (5–7) found the net, but there was no time left to turn the game around. We won the shots on goal 49–47, whilst the Polish goalkeeper, Barofsky, made 44 saves.
Thursday: From 1–4 to extra time
On Thursday, it was the turn of PUHA SELECT, who beat DEAC 6–0 in the tournament’s opening match. The Polish national team also got off to a strong start against us: Bagienko opened the scoring (0–1), Miklós Wenner equalised (1–1), but goals from Wisniowski and Bieda made it 1–3 by the first interval, and in the second period Platacz extended the lead to 1–4.
The third period, however, was all ours! Sebestyén Csata pulled one back in the 48th minute (2–4), scored again two and a half minutes later (3–4), then 46 seconds before the end of normal time levelled the score with a hat-trick (4–4)! In extra time, it was ultimately the visitors who came out on top: Bochyński scored the winner on a power play in the 62nd minute (4–5). We still managed to pick up a point, with Nándor Róth saving 38 shots in goal, whilst Sebestyén Csata was named man of the match for Győr.
Friday: a ten-goal farewell
On the final day, we bid farewell to DEAC – and what a farewell it was! Bendegúz Keve Sárkány opened the scoring (1–0), DEAC’s Süveg equalised (1–1), and Benedek Madácsi found the net twice before the end of the first period (3–1). In the second period, goals from Gellért Béres, Miklós Wenner and Balázs Takács saw us pull away to 6–1.
In the final period, Lékó scored whilst we had a man advantage, and Tóth pulled one back at even strength (6–3); after that, however, we scored four times in two and a half minutes: Sárkány (7–3), Madácsi (8–3), Sárkány again, who celebrated a hat-trick (9–3), and finally Madácsi with his fourth goal (10–3). Zalán Szabó provided four assists, whilst the shot count stood at 45–22. Our team captain, Benedek Madácsi, was voted man of the match.
The other matches in the tournament
There was plenty to see in the daytime matches too. In the opening match, PUHA SELECT beat DEAC 6–0: Bieda scored a hat-trick, whilst Klimowski kept a clean sheet. On Thursday, Opole United beat the Debrecen side 14–2, with Socha again scoring a hat-trick, whilst Varga and Ördög scored DEAC’s goals. On Friday morning, the two Polish teams decided the tournament winner: Opole United beat PUHA SELECT 3–1, with their goalkeeper, Lang, making 21 saves.
Final results and prizes
Opole United won the cup with a flawless record of three victories. They also took home the Player of the Cup trophy, awarded to the tournament’s best player: their striker, Isaiah Socha, scored five goals and provided three assists, whilst our captain, Benedek Madácsi, received the trophy for third place. He was also the tournament’s top scorer: he scored five goals – a feat matched only by Socha – and provided seven assists. With 12 points, he was by far the highest scorer in the tournament.
- Opole United – 9 points
- PUHA SELECT – 5 points
- UNI GYŐR ETO HC – 4 points
- DEAC – 0 points
What remains beyond the statistics: three days of university ice hockey at its very best. Fast-paced action, plenty of goals, thrilling matches – and, once the final whistle has blown, handshakes and group photos with the visiting teams. That’s what makes the EUHL so special: students and student-athletes who, alongside their studies, want to give their very best on the ice.
We finished the UNI GYŐR Hockey Cup V with one win, one defeat in overtime, 19 goals scored and third place. We’d like to thank the supporters for turning out in such large numbers to cheer us on all three evenings, and we’d like to thank the visiting teams for coming to Győr! There’s no time to rest: on Tuesday 20 October at 6.30 pm, we’ll be hosting DUE WORM Angels in the second round of the Hungarian Cup at the Győr University Ice Sports Centre, and on 26 October we’ll be away to the Lizards in the Andersen League.
Come on, UNI GYŐR ETO!
UNI GYŐR ETO HC v Opole United: 5 – 7 (EUHL)
Goalscorers: #81 Keve Bendegúz Sárkány, #18 Benedek Madácsi, #6 István Süveg, #10 Sebestyén Csata, #14 Ádám Balogh (UNI GYŐR ETO), #16 Toussaint, #20 Shuttleworth, #6 Socha (2), #26 Perreault, #4 Black, #9 Duquette (OPOLE UNITED)
UNI GYŐR ETO HC v PUHA SELECT: 4–5 (after extra time) (EUHL)
Goalscorers: #53 Miklós Wenner, #10 Sebestyén Csata (3) (UNI GYŐR ETO), #12 Bagienko, #17 Wisniowski, #26 Bieda, #25 Platacz, #14 Bochyński (PUHA SELECT)
UNI GYŐR ETO HC v DEAC: 10 – 3 (EUHL)
Goalscorers: #11 Bendegúz Sárkány Keve (3), #18 Benedek Madácsi (4), #36 Gellért Béres, #53 Miklós Wenner, #81 Balázs Takács (UNI GYŐR ETO), #12 Süveg, #9 Lékó, #11 Tóth (DEAC)
Photos from the tournament can be found in the gallery. Full albums for all six matches are available to view:
Fotó: @csigai_sportphotography (Dr. Németh-Csigai Krisztina)