IIHF - Maruna gets the winner

by Chris Jurewicz|02 MAY 2024

In tight, defensive-minded hockey games, it's often a flukey goal that makes the difference.

Ondrej Maruna is a talented Slovakian hockey player but his goal early in the third period was more luck than skill - hey, they say you have to be good to be lucky and lucky to be good - as Maruna's shot from the half-wall somehow eluded Czechia goaltender Jakub Milota. The goal was the eventual game-winner as Slovakia defeated Czechia 3-2 in quarter-final action at the 2024 IIHF U18 World Championship.

Maruna scored twice in the win over Czechia and was one of his team's stars. Slovak goaltender Alan Lendak also came up big, stopping 27 of 29 shots, including a flurry in the third as the Czechs put on pressure to try and tie the game.

"They are really fast and they shoot everything," Maruna said about the Czechs. "They're a good offensive team but we closed them down, so that was the key."

Slovakia opened the scoring at 1:36 of the first period when Tobias Tomik fired a low shot from the point that beat Milota. Luka Radivojevic assisted on the goal for his team-leading sixth helper of the tournament.

The Czechs have struggled with the man advantage throughout the U18s (they were 1-for-18 coming into the game) but their fortunes changed at 5:20. With Czechia on a powerplay, Adam Titlbach's backhand hit the post but Fabian Licko mistakenly put the puck in his own net and it was 1-1.

Maruna's first goal of the game came at 14:29 of the second on a hard-fought battle. Miroslav Satan forced a Czechia turnover and sent the puck to the slot to Slovakian teammate Jan Slovan, who threw the puck on net. Maruna was in the right place at the right time (as coaches preach to young hockey players, 'Go to the net!') and he tipped the puck in.

"Just drive the net and the puck bounced, so I just needed to go to the net," said Maruna, adding that he and his teammates are thrilled to knock off their arch-rivals. "It feels really good. We're a close nation so it feels really good, especially in this tournament."

Czechia's Jakub Fibigr gave his team some hope midway through the third, when his wrist shot beat Lendak to make it 3-2 Slovakia but the Czechs, as hard as they tried, couldn't score another.

Slovakia moves onto the semi-finals at U18s for the second-straight year, while the Czechs bow out in the quarters as they did in 2023. The Slovaks will find out who their opponent is following the final quarter-final today between Canada and Latvia. Regardless of opponent, Maruna said the team will be ready.

"We need to work as a team, not individuals. We need to show how strong of a team we are," he said.

Wednesday's result marked the sixth time in the last seven meetings between Slovakia and Czechia that have been decided by one goal at the U18s.