Belarus President’s hockey team first to reach Republican Hockey League finals
The hockey team of the President of Belarus became the first finalist of the Republican Hockey League, BelTA reports
On March 27th, the Head of State’s ice squad beat the Grodno Region hockey players in the first semi-finals at Minsk’s Olympic Arena – 12:4.
The game for reaching the finals began with powerful attacks from the hosts, who had hit the opponents goal four times by the first break. Pavel Volchek scored a double, Nikolai Lukashenko and Artyom Antonenko scored once each. The guests responded with an accurate shot from Renat Mikelis, bringing the score to 4:1. At the very beginning of the second period, Andrei Orlyuk and Vitaly Gulida reduced the gap to a minimum, but then the top scorer of the tournament, Andrei Kostitsyn, scored the fifth goal, followed by a spectacular goal from Oleg Antonenko, who received an excellent pass from his son Artyom Antonenko. Shortly before the second break, Andrei Kostitsyn scored another goal. In the final third of the match, he scored two more goals, in addition to Oleg Antonenko and Artyom Antonenko who scored for the second time each, and Andrei Mikhalev scored the last point. Aleksandr Politsinsky scored one goal for the Grodno Region team.
Andrei Kostitsyn and Andrei Gidrevich were named the best players of the match, receiving prizes from Honoured Coach of Belarus Anatoly Varivonchik.
According to a long-established tradition, during the breaks of the hockey match, the audience saw performances by Belarusian pop singers. Moreover, the most active fans took part in exciting competitions right on the ice, with winners being presented with prizes from the President’s Sports Club
At the first stage of the competitions, the President’s claimed victory across all six meetings and finished first with a goal difference of 59-23. Its opponent in the final series will be determined after the second semi-final match between the Minsk Region ice hockey players and representatives of the Brest Region.
The list of top scorers is confidently headed by Andrei Kostitsyn, who boasts 25 points (14 goals and 11 assists).
The President’s team is a 14-time winner of the National Amateur Ice Hockey Tournament, with hockey players from the Gomel and Minsk regions also claiming one title each. In the final series of last season, the Head of State’s ice hockey team beat the Minsk Region squad twice – 6:1 and 6:4. Bronze awards were earned by hockey players from the Brest Region, who defeated the Gomel Region team in the match for third place – 5:3.
The organisers of the amateur hockey tournament are the President’s Sports Club, the Sports and Tourism Ministry and the Minsk City Executive Committee.
