photo: © Kostadin Andonov
Spain is celebrating promotion after going undefeated at the 2025 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship Division II Group B in Sofia, Bulgaria. A 3-2 overtime victory over closest rival Australia on the penultimate day of action secured a return to Division IIA for the first time since relegation in 2023.
Amassing 14 points from five games, Spain scored 21 goals while allowing seven in a solid team effort during a victorious week at Sofia´s Winter Sports Palace.
"This is a team with four nearly equally strong lines, excellent goaltending, all battling hard and proudly representing Spain," said Spain´s head coach Timo Tuomi.
No stranger to celebrating success at U18 level, Tuomi coached Finland to a World U18 Juniors gold medal in 2000. His most recent triumph in Sofia marks his third promotion at Division IIB level from the bench of the Spanish U18 national team.
Aiming to overcome last year´s disappointment of finishing second on home ice, eight players returned for Spain´s promotion push in Bulgaria. At Sofia´s Winter Sports Palace, Tuomi´s crew got off to a lighting start. Five scorers tallied in Spain´s 5-1 opening win versus Chinese Taipei. It was followed by a hat-trick from Andrey Garkusha leading the way in a 6-0 thumping against Bulgaria and a hard-fought 3-1 comeback win versus Belgium.
In Spain´s pivotal game versus Australia on Day Four, the contest was goalless at the first intermission. In the second period, Spain dominated proceedings and struck a short-handed opener at 25:27 after Eduardo Gonzalez had set up Roman Morillas clear through on goal to convert on the glove side of Thomas Papas.
The Aussies struck back early in the third period. Spain´s blueliner Iker Ruiz de Galarreta got his netminder Albert Bosch off balance with Colby Shumak reacting quickly at the far post to net the equalizing goal.
Operating in a class of their own in special play, Spain got back in front near the mid-way mark of the third stanza. Needing just nine seconds to score on a one-man advantage, Papas had saved Gonzalez's initial shot but couldn´t keep out Ruben Saenz's follow-up effort for 2-1.
The red-hot Shumak replied once again to tie the game when firing a wrister from a tight angle past Bosch. Then on a man-on-advantage spilling over into overtime, Spain struck the killer blow. Papas had blocked Enzo Franco´s drive from the point, but Juan Lacasta reacted swiftly to fire home the winner at 61:09.
With their gold medals already secured, Spain finished on a high beating Serbia 4-3 in their final game of the tournament.
Four members of Spain´s gold medal-winning U18 roster - Morillas, Gonzalez, Juan Fernandez, and Dario Martinez - played for Spain´s U20 team finishing top of Division II Group A in Serbia´s capital Belgrade two months ago.
"There are a lot of promising kids coming through in Spain," said Tuomi. "Thanks to our General Manager, Maurizio Mansi a lot of recent events have been organized for our players to gain more experience at international level which will be required for Spain to become a real contender in the future," said Tuomi.
The tournament directorate nominated Spain´s Bosch as the top goalkeeper, stopping 94.29% of shots for a GAA of 1.32. Belgium’s Mitya Monsieurs was named best defender and Jed Lake of Australia was selected as the best forward in his third and final U18 tournament. Spain´s Gonzalez led the competition in scoring with 11 (2+9) points.
After an opening 8-4 loss against Belgium, David Ferrari´s Australia got into gear and wrapped up a silver medal in the final game of the tournament. Having defeated Chinese Taipei 4-3 in overtime, it marks the Aussies best overall finish since 2018.
Chinese Taipei finished with bronze, level on points with newly promoted Belgium in fourth place. Belgium's goalkeeper, Niko Sifakakis, was the youngest player in the tournament enjoying a memorable winning debut against Australia. The Belgians scored the most goals in the tournament (25) and comprehensively beat the host team Bulgaria 8-1 in their final game.
Serbia had stepped down from Division IIA and went into the final game against Spain hoping for a bronze medal. The youngest team of the tournament, pushed the gold medal winners all the way in the closing game to finish fifth.
Bulgaria´s Aleksandar Stanimirov scored two goals and notched an assist in a 3-2 overtime victory against Chinese Taipei 3-2 on the penultimate day of competition. It became the highlight in a disappointing week for the Bulgarians dropping down to Division III Group A for the first time since 2019.
Amassing 14 points from five games, Spain scored 21 goals while allowing seven in a solid team effort during a victorious week at Sofia´s Winter Sports Palace.
"This is a team with four nearly equally strong lines, excellent goaltending, all battling hard and proudly representing Spain," said Spain´s head coach Timo Tuomi.
No stranger to celebrating success at U18 level, Tuomi coached Finland to a World U18 Juniors gold medal in 2000. His most recent triumph in Sofia marks his third promotion at Division IIB level from the bench of the Spanish U18 national team.
Aiming to overcome last year´s disappointment of finishing second on home ice, eight players returned for Spain´s promotion push in Bulgaria. At Sofia´s Winter Sports Palace, Tuomi´s crew got off to a lighting start. Five scorers tallied in Spain´s 5-1 opening win versus Chinese Taipei. It was followed by a hat-trick from Andrey Garkusha leading the way in a 6-0 thumping against Bulgaria and a hard-fought 3-1 comeback win versus Belgium.
In Spain´s pivotal game versus Australia on Day Four, the contest was goalless at the first intermission. In the second period, Spain dominated proceedings and struck a short-handed opener at 25:27 after Eduardo Gonzalez had set up Roman Morillas clear through on goal to convert on the glove side of Thomas Papas.
The Aussies struck back early in the third period. Spain´s blueliner Iker Ruiz de Galarreta got his netminder Albert Bosch off balance with Colby Shumak reacting quickly at the far post to net the equalizing goal.
Operating in a class of their own in special play, Spain got back in front near the mid-way mark of the third stanza. Needing just nine seconds to score on a one-man advantage, Papas had saved Gonzalez's initial shot but couldn´t keep out Ruben Saenz's follow-up effort for 2-1.
The red-hot Shumak replied once again to tie the game when firing a wrister from a tight angle past Bosch. Then on a man-on-advantage spilling over into overtime, Spain struck the killer blow. Papas had blocked Enzo Franco´s drive from the point, but Juan Lacasta reacted swiftly to fire home the winner at 61:09.
With their gold medals already secured, Spain finished on a high beating Serbia 4-3 in their final game of the tournament.
Four members of Spain´s gold medal-winning U18 roster - Morillas, Gonzalez, Juan Fernandez, and Dario Martinez - played for Spain´s U20 team finishing top of Division II Group A in Serbia´s capital Belgrade two months ago.
"There are a lot of promising kids coming through in Spain," said Tuomi. "Thanks to our General Manager, Maurizio Mansi a lot of recent events have been organized for our players to gain more experience at international level which will be required for Spain to become a real contender in the future," said Tuomi.
The tournament directorate nominated Spain´s Bosch as the top goalkeeper, stopping 94.29% of shots for a GAA of 1.32. Belgium’s Mitya Monsieurs was named best defender and Jed Lake of Australia was selected as the best forward in his third and final U18 tournament. Spain´s Gonzalez led the competition in scoring with 11 (2+9) points.
After an opening 8-4 loss against Belgium, David Ferrari´s Australia got into gear and wrapped up a silver medal in the final game of the tournament. Having defeated Chinese Taipei 4-3 in overtime, it marks the Aussies best overall finish since 2018.
Chinese Taipei finished with bronze, level on points with newly promoted Belgium in fourth place. Belgium's goalkeeper, Niko Sifakakis, was the youngest player in the tournament enjoying a memorable winning debut against Australia. The Belgians scored the most goals in the tournament (25) and comprehensively beat the host team Bulgaria 8-1 in their final game.
Serbia had stepped down from Division IIA and went into the final game against Spain hoping for a bronze medal. The youngest team of the tournament, pushed the gold medal winners all the way in the closing game to finish fifth.
Bulgaria´s Aleksandar Stanimirov scored two goals and notched an assist in a 3-2 overtime victory against Chinese Taipei 3-2 on the penultimate day of competition. It became the highlight in a disappointing week for the Bulgarians dropping down to Division III Group A for the first time since 2019.