BRATISLAVA, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The crowd in Kosice's Steel Arena erupted into a massive "This is our home!" chant after host Slovakia upset the United States 4-1 in their first Group A match of the Ice Hockey World Championship on Friday.
Spirited team effort and exceptional performance by Slovakia's goalie Patrik Rybar prevailed over a star-studded Team USA.
Slovakia is hosting the World Championship for the second time in its history and the national team is determined to make up for the disappointing 10th place they ended up in the previous tournament they hosted in 2011. The squad of the Canadian-born coach Craig Ramsay started carrying out their mission immediately after the faceoff and scored an early goal when Matus Sukel netted an easy shot after a great pass by Marian Studenic from behind the net.
Team USA managed to tie the game 1-1 on a power play after Alex Debrincat's goal from the top slot, but the home team continued to press their opponents for every puck and wait for break-away chances. The arena erupted into cheers again early in the second period, when Erik Cernak's powerplay slap-shot put Slovakia back in the lead. The fans were still on their feet when shortly after Tomas Tatar's attempt from close range found its way into Cory Schneider's net and extended Slovakia's lead to 3-1.
Team USA tried desperately to put another shot behind Rybar's back to get back in the game, but the home goalie's performance was close to perfection and even when he couldn't make a save, his teammates stepped in. The Slovaks made their best performance in years with a late goal by Michal Kristof. Enditem
