Reaction after Russia U20 Whites lost to Belarus U20

Following the 2:3 loss to Belarus U20 at the Liga Stavok Cup of the Future, Russia U20 Whites head coach Alexander Titov and members of his playing squad shared their emotions:

Russia U20 Whites head coach Alexander Titov:

- After taking so many penalties in the second stanza, we tried to calm the guys down ahead of the third. Thankfully, they listened to us and started to compete with energy and desire. However, we have to say that the opponents were fresher during the opening two frames. We had warned our players beforehand that Belarus were going to compete hard. When the game ended, I told the guys that we have to continue fighting hard in future matches without giving up.

Russia U20 forward Nikolai Khvorov:

- We didn't play as we should have done in the maiden two periods. Unfortunately, we just couldn't find that equaliser in the third frame after initially clawing back two markers. We still have a chance to finish in top spot despite this result, we simply have to beat the U20 Reds in the concluding game.

Russia U20 forward Mikhail Ilin:

- The Belarusians were stronger and better than us in the first two periods. Nonetheless, after a serious conversation in the dressing room, we subsequently made a big improvement for the third. When trying to equalise 6-on-5 in the closing minutes, though, we rushed too much and made poor decisions. We had a full minute in which to try and score, there was no need to rush.

Russia U20 forward Yaroslav Yapparov:

- I think that we were lacking emotions following yesterday's difficult match. In the end, we managed to regroup and compete with emotion for the third frame, but we just couldn't score that third goal. We will now focus on winning our next game on Tuesday.