PETALING JAYA: “Calm down, we will get it back. Relax, the game is still long and we still have time to get it back.”
These were the magic words of Malaysian men’s ice hockey coach Kristof Kovago during a time out he called just before the end of the first period as the team panicked as they trailed the Philippines 1-3, last night.
“I had no choice but to call a timeout because they were down, depressed and too excited so I needed them to come back.”
“I am not Gandalf, no room to cast a spell, I need a beard first and more grey hair but the timeout had to be called," he quipped.
Malaysia recovered in the second period to bring the game up to 4-5 with goals from Bryan Lim, captain Loke Ban Kin and Mohd Hariz Mohd Oryza.
At the end of the third period, the score was level at 7-7 and forced into a five-minute overtime which concluded in a scoreless run.
The draw resulted in a penalty shootout between both teams.
Goalkeeper Tengku Azlly Tengku Abdillah however, failed to save two goals by forward Paul Gabriel Sanchez and Carl Michael Montano as Malaysia lost the shootout with a 1-2 scoreline.
Kovago believes his team deserved the win.
“It’s a tough loss. They worked hard and they deserved the win but this is sports, someone has to lose and unfortunately it was us.”
Kovago admitted it could be due to the fact that Malaysia had presented a very “young” team in their debut appearance at the Sea Games.
“It comes down to the inexperience of our team because we are by far the youngest team here.”
“We were leading, then, we went forward to try to score goals, this is how it is and the boys were emotional, like I was.”
On the match for the bronze medal against Singapore later today, Kovago knows he has an uphill task in trying to lift the team’s diminished spirits.
“It’s hard to say because the guys are very tired, we are now mentally a bit down so it’s mine and the staffs’ job to make them happy. It’s not easy.”
“Tomorrow’s a new day and we have no choice, like it or not, we have to play so let’s see how it goes.”
Malaysia is set to face Singapore in the fight for the bronze while Thailand take on the Philippines as they vie for the gold medal at the Malaysia National Ice Skating Stadium (MYNISS), Empire City, Damansara Perdana.