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

In Vierumaki, Finland, the under 17 Russian national team competed against their Finnish counterparts in the first of three planned friendly matches.

Fortunately, this game went our team's way. Russia were dominant for long periods, and goals from Nikita Rtischev (two), Grigory Denisenko and Yegor Sokolov gave the players a 4:0 lead. Finland did get back to within one during a nervy final few moments, but Russia held on to take a confidence boosting 4:3 win in Vierumaki!

Evgeny Filinov, Russia U17 head coach:

- I have two separate impressions from the game. I am happy with the victory, but we made too many mistakes in defence. I wouldn't say that we relaxed after the fourth goal, but errors began to appear. Finland fought, however our guys showed character to hold on. Right now we will watch the game back, and then we will analyse our mistakes with the guys. During the next couple of games, we will be able to fix our mistakes.

Nikita Rtischev, Russia U17 forward:

- It was a tough game, but we managed to stick to the game plan. When we were 4:1 up, we stopped moving, and started playing poorly. Overall, the main thing is that we won. I would like to point out Grigory Denisenko, who gave me a great pass for one of my goals. I was simply in the right place at the right time. 

Match protocol:

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

Russian goals:

0:1 Ritschev (Denisenko, Okhotyuk), 06.37

0:2 Rtischev (Denisenko, Khovanov), 28.01

0:3 Khovanov (Denisenko, Rtischev), 30.51

0:4 Sokolov (Babintsev, Rotenberg), 44.53

13.08.2016. Vierumaki, Finland.

Russian Ice Hockey Federation