09 may 2006

Latvia-Slovenia 5:1

Latvia beat Slovenia 5-1 Tuesday to qualify for the second round at the World Ice Hockey Championship, scoring three goals in a 5:36 span of the second period.

Mitja Sivic gave Slovenia a 1-0 lead at 5:35 of the first period before the Latvians exploded for four second-period goals to kill the contest with 20 minutes left to play.

Aleksandrs Semjonovs, Martins Cipulis, Aleksandrs Jerofejevs and Leonids Tambijevs scored goals and Aleksandrs Nizivijs added three assists in a 13-minute period in front of a 10,500-strong crowd which included Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga.

Herberts Vasiljevs added a powerplay marker midway through the final period to seal victory for Latvia, who held defending champions the Czech Republic to a 1-1 draw before losing 6-0 to Finland in their first two games.

The Slovenians, who lost all three of their preliminary round games, will now play in the relegation group.