A nine-goal start in Zalaegerszeg!

The 2026/27 season of the Andersen League has kicked off, and we began the season as defending champions, having won our third consecutive league title. In our opening match, we were the visitors to the Egerszegi Titánok at the Zalaegerszeg Ice Rink. We had won all four of our previous league encounters against them, most recently 11–1 on the very same ice in January, but the new season started with a clean slate for everyone.

We were already in control of the game in the opening period: we had 23 shots on goal, the home side three. In the 7th minute, István Szűcs opened the scoring from a pass by Sebestyén Csata (0–1). In the 10th minute, Szűcs scored again, this time set up by Keve Bendegúz Sárkány (0–2), and 17 seconds later Martin Sipák also found the net (0–3). In the second half of the period, we had two power-play opportunities, but no further goals were scored, so we went into the first break with a three-goal lead.

The second period also got off to a quick start: in the 22nd minute, Benedek Horváth found the net following good work from Sebestyén Csata and István Szűcs (0–4). We killed off our only penalty, a two-minute minor to Botond Fekete, without trouble, and between the 34th and 38th minutes we had three power-play opportunities. We made the most of them: in the 38th minute, with a two-man advantage, Bence Makovics scored from passes by Keve Bendegúz Sárkány and Miklós Wenner (0–5), and within a minute, still on the power play, Makovics found the net again, this time set up by Bence Láday and Wenner (0–6).

In the 33rd second of the final period, István Süveg finished off an attack by István Szűcs and Sebestyén Csata (0–7). In the 44th minute, Bence Makovics scored his third goal from passes by Martin Sipák and Keve Bendegúz Sárkány, opening the season with a hat-trick (0–8). The home side’s goalkeeper, Csóbor, made 43 saves before being replaced by Batka in the closing stages. With 31 seconds remaining, Süveg added his second goal on the power play (0–9), while in our goal Noah Áron Simo recorded a shutout with 11 saves.

We began our title defence with a nine-goal win without conceding: we won all three periods 3–0, and the shot count was 54–11 in our favour. Our league record against the Titánok now stands at five matches, five wins. There’s not much time to rest: on Monday at 8:05 pm we play away to BJA U21 in the Hungarian Cup at the Tüskecsarnok in Budapest, and on Saturday 3 October at 6:00 pm we make our home debut at the Győr University Ice Sports Center against the Kárpáti Farkasok.

Hajrá UNI GYŐR ETO!

Egerszegi Titánok vs UNI GYŐR ETO HC: 0 – 9 (AL50)
Goalscorers: #97 István Szűcs (2), #7 Martin Sipák, #2 Benedek Horváth, #8 Bence Makovics (3), #36 István Süveg (2) (UNI GYŐR ETO)

Photos from the season opener in Zalaegerszeg are in the gallery.