BEIJING (Reuters) – Finland claimed a 2-0 win over Slovakia to reach the boys’s ice hockey final on the Beijing Games on Friday helped by Sakari Manninen’s first interval purpose and Harri Sateri’s shutout netminding.
With Slovakia pulling their netminder for an extra-attacker late on in a bid to draw stage, Harri Pesonen scored into an empty internet with 39 seconds left to wrap up the victory.
Finland now await the winners of the second semi-final afterward Friday between defending gold medallists the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) and Sweden.
The Finns had simply dealt with Slovakia of their event opener, easing to a 6-2 win, however this time confronted rather more decided opponents battling for a spot in Sunday’s gold medal recreation.
Finland scored the one purpose of a gap interval that produced few scoring probabilities.
But Manninen made one among Finland’s seven pictures depend by pouncing on a rebound and lifting it over sprawling netminder Patrik Rybar for a 1-0 lead.
The remainder of the sport featured a goaltending duel between Rybar and Sateri, who made 28 saves to earn the shutout, with Pesonen discovering the online to spherical off the win for Finland.
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Beijing; Editing by Ken Ferris)
