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Switzerland clinch Deutschland Cup

Switzerland (in white and red) defeated Germany 2-1 in the Deutschland Cup Keystone

The Swiss ice hockey team won their first ever Deutschland Cup on Sunday after beating hosts Germany 2-1 in a penalty shootout.

“Our season is really off to a good start,” said Swiss coach Ralph Krueger, following the win in Hannover. “Today’s standard of play is the highest ever reached by Switzerland and Germany during the five years I spent as the head of the national team.”

“This tournament has been very good for us,” Krueger added. “Not all the players were at their best, but we won nevertheless.”

Germany played a very physical game from the start to prevent the Swiss players from imposing their more technical game. This proved to be ineffectual at first, but eventually paid off.

Assisted by Christian Ehrhoff and Wayne Hynes, Germany’s Leonard Soccio scored the first goal after 15 minutes of play. However, Switzerland grabbed a power-play opportunity and tied the game a quarter of an hour later with a shot from André Rötheli.

A tug-of-war then began, with Germany dominating possession in the closing stages of the match. However, neither team was able to take the lead, and the match remained tied 1-1 at the end of the third period.

With overtime failing to produce any further goals, the match had to be decided on penalties. Jean-Jacques Aeschlimann finally gave Switzerland its 2-1 victory.

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