Latvian Champions Mogo Beat Spain's Jaca 8-1 in Continental Cup
Ice hockey club Mogo/RSU beat Spanish champions Jaca 8-1 in the first round of the IIHF Continental Cup in Lithuania. The decisive game for a place in the next round is against Kyiv's Sokil on Sunday.
Latvian champions Mogo/RSU won their second game in as many outings in the first round of the IIHF Continental Cup, an international club ice hockey tournament, being held in Elektrenai, Lithuania. On Saturday they beat the strongest team from Spain, Jaca, 8-1 (2-0, 3-0, 3-1). On Sunday Mogo face the decisive game for a place in the next round.
How the game went
Rihards Grinbergs, who returned to Latvia after several seasons in France, scored twice. Rudolfs Polcs, Gints Meija, Kaspars Daugavins, Rauls Ozollapa, Ernests Krums and Roberts Kalkis each scored once, with Kalkis getting the eighth goal in the 48th minute. Kalkis and Daugavins also had one assist each, Janis Zemitis and Kristaps Sotnieks had two apiece, and defenceman Kristaps Jakobsons had three.
In the first period Polcs and Meija scored within 43 seconds of each other to make it 2-0. In the second period Ozollapa and Grinbergs scored 25 seconds apart, making it 5-0. Jaca's only goal was scored by Kapijass.
The team coached by Girts Ankipans outshot its opponent in every period: 14-2, 23-6 and 12-6. Grinbergs, Zemitis and Rolans Vasiljevs were the most active with five shots each.
The opponent
Jaca has been Spanish champion in three of the last four seasons and lost the final once after finishing first in the regular season. Although two foreign players featured in the Spanish league this season, only Spanish players made up the Jaca roster against Mogo. The Spain national team plays in Division I Group B of the world championship, the third level.
What comes next
In the decisive game for a place in the next round, Mogo play Kyiv's Sokil at 13:00 on Sunday. The Ukrainian champions beat Jaca 7-0, with Erik Vitols in goal. In their first game Mogo beat Lithuania's Elektrenu Energija 6-1.
