Friendly match. Finland U17 - Russia U17 - 3:4 SO

In Vierumaki, Finland, the under 17 Russian national team took on their Finnish hosts. Our team won 4:3 in yesterday's encounter, and were in the mood for repeating the feat.

The match went back and forth, and despite Finland finding three goals, Alexander Khovanov, Maxim Shabanov and Grigory Nesvetaev took the game into overtime. It went all the way to penalty shots, and our Nikita Rtischev scored the winner to clinch a second victory in a row! The third friendly fixture will take place tomorrow at 15:00 local time.

Daniil Isaev, Russia under 17 national team goaltender:

- It was a very tough game. We had a great mindset, but it was really hard to keep a hold of the winning score, and we failed to do so. It's good that we won on penalty shots. Despite only conceding one penalty shot today, it doesn't mean that it is my favourite component of ice hockey. I simply prepared well today, and I didn't do anything special.

Alexander Khovanov, Russia under 17 forward:

- I have great emotions after winning. The guys thought until the end, and our goalkeeper was really solid. Despite losing after the first two periods, we didn't panic, and we did what we should have done in the third period. In the first half of the match, we tried to not give Finland space to make plays, and when they got tired in the third, we scored two goals. The coaches believe in me for powerplays, and when on a five on three, a accurate pass allowed me to slot into an empty net. In the shootout, I wasn't nervous, and I managed to do my thing. The main thing for us is the victory, and we are 2:0 up in this friendly series. We will now prepare for the third match. 

Match protocol:

Finland U17 - Russia U17 - 3:4 SO (1:0, 0:0, 2:3, 0:0 - 0:1)

Goals:

1:0 Matikainen, 17.50

1:1 Khovanov (Denisenko), 42.13

1:2 Shabanov (Nesvetaev, Misyul), 42.26

2:2 Ranta (Ruikka, Maki), 48.44

2:3 Nesvetaev, 54.00

3:3 Salonen, 55.23

3:4 Rtischev, 65.00

Goalkeepers: Nurmi - Isaev

13.08.2016. Vierumaki, Finland.

Russian Ice Hockey Federation