S. Korea falls to Austria for 1st loss at hockey worlds

SEOUL, April 28 (Yonhap) -- South Korea has suffered its first loss of the men's hockey world championship in Ukraine.

South Korea, ranked 23rd, dropped to 17th-ranked Austria 5-0 on Thursday (local time) at the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championship Division I Group A at the Palace of Sports in Kiev, Ukraine. Austria scored three goals in the first period and tacked on two more for good measure.

The loss snapped South Korea's winning streak at three games. South Korea had given up five goals in three previous games but Austria alone matched that total.

The six-nation competition, which goes through Friday, is the second-highest level of men's international hockey. The top two teams after the round-robin play will be promoted to the top-flight IIHF World Championship next year, while the worst team will drop to Division I Group B.

After Thursday's action, Austria and South Korea are tied at nine points, followed by Kazakhstan with eight. Austria holds the tiebreak edge over South Korea thanks to Thursday's victory.

South Korea can still clinch a top-division spot with a win over 22nd-ranked Ukraine in Friday's finale. Ukraine has lost all four games so far and will finish in last place regardless of its result against South Korea.

If South Korea and Kazakhstan end up tied in points, South Korea will finish higher in the standings thanks to its 5-2 win over Kazakhstan Sunday.

South Korea has never before competed at the top-division world championship.

Coached by former National Hockey League defenseman Jim Paek, South Korea was coming off three straight comeback wins. But with three players out with injuries on Thursday -- defenseman Eric Regan and forwards Kim Won-jung and Park Woo-sang -- South Korea had no answer against Austrian onslaught from the opening period.

Lukas Haudum opened the scoring at 12:09. Defenseman Oh Hyon-ho, promoted to take Regan's spot on the blue line, tried to clear the puck from behind his own goal line, but instead passed it right to Haudum, who beat goalie Matt Dalton high on the stick side.

Just 47 seconds later, Brian Lebler doubled the Austrian lead on a two-on-one breakaway. South Korean forward Ahn Jin-hui had missed the net on a fast break at the other end, and he and his linemates were slow on the backcheck as Manuel Ganahl set up Lebler for a wide-open chance.

Austria went up 3-0 on yet another two-on-one opportunity at 16:26. Lebler sped past South Koreans caught flat-footed in the neutral zone, and fed Dominique Heinrich on the left wing with no South Korean near him.

Konstantin Komarek then staked Austria to a 4-0 lead at 4:36 in the second period. In yet another odd-man rush, Heinrich was allowed to walk in untouched from the blue line for a shot, with forward Park Jin-kyu caught puck-watching. Dalton only got a piece of it, and Komarek poked home the rebound lying on the crease.

The goal chased Dalton from the game. Prior to Thursday, he had been in second place in save percentage (.946) and goals against average (1.67).

Austrian goalie Bernhard Starkbaum, who entered the game with tournament-best .954 save percentage and 1.34 (GAA), stood tall in the other net.

He turned aside 25 shots for the shutout, and none bigger than the one on Michael Swift with about four minutes left in the second. The South Korean forward found himself alone in the slot for a wrist shot, but Starkbaum made a spectacular glove save to keep his shutout bid intact.

Austria went up 5-0 on Steven Strong's goal at 9:09 in the third, as the defenseman pounced on the loose puck after Markus Schlacher's centering pass went off a Korean skate and stopped in between the face-off circles.

South Korea matched Austria with 11 shots in the first period, but was outshot 13-4 in the second and 12-10 in the third.

jeeho@yna.co.kr
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