Members of Team Austria react while shaking hands with Team Latvia following their loss in IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship relegation action in Halifax on Wednesday, January 4, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese
HALIFAX – Latvia maintained its spot in the top tier of world junior hockey with a 4-2 win over Austria on Wednesday.
Latvia swept the best-of-three relegation series at the 2023 world junior championship with the win after taking Monday’s opener 5-2.
The result means Latvia will compete at the 2024 world juniors in Goteborg, Sweden. Austria is relegated to the Division I, Group A tournament.
Norway, which hosted and won the Division I, Group A championship last month, will replace Austria in Goteborg.
Latvia and Austria were entered into the relegation tournament after finishing in last place in their respective divisions.
Bogdans Hodass, Girts Silkalns, Dans Locmelis and Sandis Vilmanis scored to give Latvia a 4-0 lead in Wednesday’s deciding game.
Luca Auer and Finn van Ee scored late goals for Austria with goaltender Thomas Pfarrmaier on the bench in favour of an extra attacker.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 24, 2023.
