The Czech expedition thus has three medals in Birmingham. On Monday, Jaroslav Lorenc won silver in bowling, and today the inline hockey players will fight for the gold against the home team USA (from 22:45 CET).
The floorball players had to do without the suspended attacker Mikuláš Krbec, who received a red card in the semi-final against Sweden.
Filip Langer could have opened the scoring, who was fouled by Janis Ragovskis in a chance, but the striker of Swedish Kalmarsund was not mature enough to tackle goalkeeper Janis Salcevičs during the free kick.
Berk’s selection then defended itself when Josef Rýpar was expelled, who took care of the opening goal at 11:39. Filip Forman found it on the left from the right post and the Linköping striker headed to the near post.
In the 18th minute, the Latvians equalized thanks to Arturs Jurševskis, but in 117 seconds, Matěj Havlas restored the lead to the favourites. He took advantage of Adam Hemerka’s pass with a quick shot from the center.
The Latvians also threw away the second power play during Langer’s penalty and in the 26th minute punished the Czechs for a foul by Edgars Purinš. After running into an ideal shooting position from the corner, Langer made his mark.
At 33:43, Purinš fouled Langer, and Rýpar faced the penalty shot this time, beating Salcevičs with a backhand bluff. In the 38th minute, Rýpar used the power play again.
The Latvians, who reached the semi-finals from the group at the expense of the favored Swiss and also played a draw with the world champions Sweden, reduced their numerical advantage in three minutes thanks to a power play enhanced by Rolands Kovalevskis.
Toms Akmenlauks scored in 67 seconds in the continuing game without a goalkeeper. Another power play did not work out for the Latvians and Langer and Filip Forman secured the win in an empty net.
The Czech team followed up on the bronze from the World Championship in Helsinki in December, where it was still under the leadership of Finnish coach Petri Kettunen. The complete fourteen nominees for Birmingham received medals there.
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