2025 World Championship Division I Group A

SEPSI ARENA , 

THURSDAY 1ST MAY 2025

ITALY

1

5

GREAT BRITAIN

BRYCE MISLEY

30:43

LIAM KIRK

00:32

NATHANAEL HALBERT

17:22

LIAM KIRK

20:42

SAM DUGGAN

27:03

BEN O'CONNOR

58:45

00:32

GOOOOOOOOOAL! Lake and Perlini combine to set-up Liam Kirk who cuts in off the left-wing and fires in the first goal! Italy 0-1 Great Britain.

17:22

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL. Liam Kirk feeds Nathanael Halbert who scores on his backhand from the slot. Italy 0-2 Great Britain.

20:42

GOOOOOOOOOOAL GB! Brett Perlini down the right and feeds Liam Kirk who drives the net to score GB's third! Italy 0-3 Great Britain.

27:03

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL! Super play by Cole Shudra who wins the puck on the boards and finds Sam Duggan who scores from close-range. Italy 0-4 Great Britain.

30:43

Goal for Italy. Bryce Misley scores from close-range in the right-circle. Italy 1-4 Great Britain.

58:45

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL! Ben O'Connor scores from the top of the left-circle on a five-on-three powerplay. Italy 1-5 Great Britain.

May 1, 2025

ITALY 1-5 GREAT BRITAIN

Great Britain beat Italy 5-1 to set-up the chance of promotion at the World Championship Division I Group A in Sfântu Gheorghe, Romania.

Liam Kirk scored twice and there was a goal each for Nathanael Halbert, Sam Duggan and Ben O’Connor as GB made it four wins from four after victories earlier in the tournament against Ukraine (4-3), Romania (2-1) and Japan (5-4).

Ben Bowns got the start between the pipes with Jackson Whistle as back-up on the day he won his 50th cap.

Whistle is the fourth netminder in history to hit the half-century landmark after Bowns, Stevie Lyle and Stephen Murphy.

Kirk and Halbert give GB two-goal lead
GB went ahead after only 32 seconds as Ben Lake and Brett Perlini combined to set-up Kirk who cut inside off the left-wing and fired low past Davide Fadani (00:32).

Bowns came up big with a superb close-range save to deny Luca Frigo and also stopped Marco Zanetti’s shot from the left-circle.

Kirk fed Halbert who scored on his backhand from the slot to give GB a two-goal lead at the first intermission (17:22).

Kirk scores again and Duggan also on target for GB
It took GB only 42 seconds of the second period to score their third as Perlini created room down the right and his centering feed found Kirk who drove the net to grab his second goal of the game (20:42).

The goal saw a change in the Italy net as Damian Clara replaced Fadani but he was beaten within seven minutes, as super play by Cole Shudra saw him win the puck on the boards and find Duggan who netted from close-range (27:03).

Italy closed the gap through Bryce Misley from the right-circle (30:43) and moments later, Bowns made a top-class save to deny the Italian forward when he cut inside off the left-wing.

O’Connor’s powerplay goal puts seal on win
Bowns made a good save on Nicholas Saracino from close-range early in the third session and also stopped Daniel Mantenuto’s shot from the slot.

Alexander Ierullo’s effort on the powerplay was instinctively turned away by Bowns and at the other end, Kirk shot just wide on a breakaway.

O’Connor put the seal on the win with a five-on-three powerplay goal from the top of the left-circle (58:45).

Stats

33

Shots

17
12

Saves

32
8

PIM

8