Juniorkronorna delivered a dominant 9-3 victory over host nation Slovakia in their U20 tournament game in Piestany. The match featured a heated confrontation between Swedish defenseman William Håkansson and Slovak coach Peter Frühauf during the second intermission. Anton Frondell led the way with a hat trick in the win.
Sweden's U20 team started strong against Slovakia, taking the lead just three minutes in when Felix Öhrqvist's shot from the blue line was tipped in by Lucas Pettersson for a 1-0 advantage. Slovakia equalized at 1-1 through Jakub Dubravik on a rebound, but Sweden quickly responded in the power play as Anton Frondell scored his first goal, assisted by Alfons Freij.
The second period saw Sweden pull away early, with Frondell netting his second goal 39 seconds in, followed by Liam Danielsson's tally off a diagonal pass from Jack Berglund to make it 4-1. Viggo Björck added a fifth goal, his third of the tournament, before Slovakia's David Balaz reduced the deficit to 5-2. Karl Sterner then steered in the sixth goal for Sweden.
Tensions boiled over at the second intermission, where Håkansson exchanged words with Frühauf over complaints about a penalty. "I thought he was whining too much when he was talking about some penalty, so I told him to drop it and play hockey," Håkansson said. The incident led to three penalties per team, but Håkansson avoided suspension. Captain Lucas Pettersson added, "Their coach was irritated that we had roughed it up a bit. It doesn't belong on the ice, but that's on them."
In the third period, Björck scored again for 7-2, Frondell completed his hat trick, and Berglund added a shorthanded empty-net goal for 9-2. Slovakia's late goal made the final 9-3.
Match stars included Frondell for his three goals and leadership, Pettersson for a goal and two assists, and Håkansson for his physical play. Sweden's lineup featured goaltenders Love Härenstam and Herman Liv, with key backs like Håkansson and forwards including Frondell and Pettersson.