The Australian men’s national under-18 team have lost 2–5 to the Bulgarian men’s national under-18 team in their fourth game of the 2023 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship Division II Group B tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria. Australia’s goals were scored by Daniel O’Handley and Connor Wardlaw, with Wardlaw’s being his first in international competition. The IIHF award for best Australian player of the match was given to the team’s captain Braden Costa.
In the other games of the day the Netherlands defeated Belgium 4–2 and China beat Chinese Taipei 8–4. At the end of the fourth round Australian remains fourth on the standings while the Netherlands leads with twelve points. Australia takes on Belgium today for their final game of the competition. The two teams last met at the 2019 World Championships where Australia won 4–2.
Game summary
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Bulgaria | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 |
Standings
| Team | GP | W | OTW | OTL | L | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| China | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Bulgaria | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| Australia | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Chinese Taipei | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Belgium | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
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