The Australian men’s national under-18 team have lost 1–6 to the Netherlands men’s national under-18 team in their opening game of the 2023 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship Division II Group B tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria. Australia’s only goal was scored by forward Finlay Gordon which was also his first in international competition. Finlay Gordon also received the IIHF award for best Australian player of the match.
In the other games of the day Chinese Taipei defeated Belgium 4–3 and China beat Bulgaria 5–1. At the end of the first round Australia sits last on the standings while the Netherlands lead with three points. Australia takes on China today for their second game of the tournament. The two teams last met at the 2019 World Championships where Australia lost 2–4.
Game summary
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Netherlands | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
Standings
| Team | GP | W | OTW | OTL | L | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| China | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Chinese Taipei | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Belgium | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Bulgaria | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Australia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
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