The Australian men’s national under-18 team have defeated the Chinese Taipei men’s national under-18 team 5–3 in their third game of the 2023 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship Division II Group B tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria. Matt Nikitin led the scoring for Australia with two goals followed by Bodie Jerome, Ivan Kuleshov and Daniel O’Handley with one each. The goals from all four players were also their first in international competition. The IIHF award for best Australian player of the match was given to forward Matt Nikitin.
In the other games of the day China defeated Belgium 6–2 and the Netherlands beat Bulgaria 5–1. At the end of the third round Australia has moved up to fourth on the standings while the Netherlands remains in first place with nine points. The teams have a rest day today and return on 1 April where Australia will take on Bulgaria for their fourth game of the competition. The two teams last met at the 2016 World Championships where Australia won 4–3.
Game summary
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 1 | 4 | 0 | 5 |
| Chinese Taipei | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
Standings
| Team | GP | W | OTW | OTL | L | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| China | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Bulgaria | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Australia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Chinese Taipei | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Belgium | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
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