Košice Goalkeeper Own-Goal Costs Michalovce in Thrilling Tipsport League Match
KOŠICE,Slovakia – A bizarre own-goal by Košice goalkeeper Patrik Jurčák dramatically shifted momentum in a 25th-round Tipsport League contest,ultimately leading to a 3-2 shootout victory for the defending champions over Michalovce. The game, a heated Eastern Slovak derby, featured a curious goal in the 49th minute when Michalovce forward Matúš Spodniak‘s arcing shot from the attacking blue line slipped through Jurčák’s glove and fell behind him into the net, giving Michalovce a 2-1 lead.
“I saw that the player went alone to two defenders and threw the puck. It was challenging to estimate the angle of the flight, and I thought to myself that it was probably going into the goal and I had to catch it so that it wouldn’t be a disaster. And it was a disaster. I guess I’m small… I jumped and the puck hit the edge of my catcher. Suddenly I saw the downcast heads of my teammates and that’s when I realized that it was bad,” Jurčák told hockeyslovakia.sk.
Despite the unfortunate error, Jurčák rebounded strongly, stopping all five Michalovce shooters in the shootout after Košice equalized at 2-2 with a two-man power play goal. Filip Krivošík secured the extra point for Košice with the game-winning shootout goal. Košice now sits third in the league table.
Spodniak, who scored his eleventh and twelfth goals of the season against Košice, expressed disbelief at the goal. “Something like this has never happened to me in my life. I just wanted to throw the puck and win a throw-in in the attacking third. Somehow it fell to the goalkeeper,” he said on HK Dukla Michalovce’s Facebook page. He also lamented late penalties and the shootout loss, stating, “We didn’t manage the last five minutes. Two of our dismissals were unnecessary, I don’t agree with them. We got a goal at 2:2 and raids are a bit of a lottery.”
Michalovce coach Erik Čaládi, whose team remains in eleventh place, felt his team played well despite the loss. “I think we controlled the match, even though it was only 2:1. We played simply and sensibly, exactly the way we wanted to. But then we were stopped by what happened there at the end. We had a chance in overtime, we played a power play, its a shame we didn’t use it.”
