The Australian men’s national under-18 team have defeated the Belgian men’s national under-18 team 2–1 in their final game of the 2023 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship Division II Group B tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria. Australia’s goals were scored by Jed Lake and Lachlan Sucher with both players recording their first in international competition. The IIHF award for best Australian player of the match was given to goaltender Ronan Hoy.
In the other games of the day Chinese Taipei defeated Bulgaria 4–1 and the Netherlands beat China 3–2. Australia finishes the tournament in fifth place with six points from five games. The Netherlands finishes in first and earns promotion to Division II Group B for 2024 while Belgium comes in last and is relegated to Division III Group A for next season. The IIHF award for best Australian player of the tournament was given to forward Bodie Jerome.
Game summary
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Belgium | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Standings
| Team | GP | W | OTW | OTL | L | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 |
| China | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 |
| Chinese Taipei | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| Bulgaria | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| Australia | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| Belgium | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
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