The Australian men’s national under-20 team have defeated the South African men’s national under-20 team 28–0 in their quarterfinal of the 2023 IIHF Ice Hockey U20 World Championship Division III tournament. Dmitri Kuleshov led the team in scoring with five goals followed by Mackenzie Bolger and Lachlan Clifford with four each, Maxim Lyashenko and Riley Langille with three each, Justin Dixon, Noah Moncrieff and Sacha Rapchuk with two each, and Nicholas Doornbos, Marcus Hosen and Jacob Laver with one each. Mackenzie Bolger’s and Marcus Hosen’s goals were also their first in international competition. The IIHF award for best Australian player of the match was given to forward Lachlan Clifford while the Australian team named Marcus Hosen their players’ player and Mackenzie Bolger their hardest worker. The win is also the teams largest on record surpassing their previous record of a 16–0 win over Bulgaria at the 2008 World Championships.
In the other three quarterfinals Bulgaria defeated New Zealand 6–2, Israel shutout Bosnia and Herzegovina 10–0 and Turkey beat Kyrgyzstan 3–1. The teams have a rest day today and return on 1 February for the semifinals and the 7th–8th placement match. Australia will take on Bulgaria in the first semifinal, Israel will play Turkey in the second semifinal and Bosnia and Herzegovina takes on South Africa for a seventh-place ranking. Australia last met Bulgaria at the 2019 World Championships where Australia won 7–4 to advance to the gold medal game.
Game summary
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 5 | 11 | 12 | 28 |
| South Africa | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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