December 17th, 18:00, Arena ATEK. Broadcast: YouTube FHU
After a break for the national team matches, the Ukrainian championship is back in action. The second half of December brings a packed schedule of hockey matches, giving fans the opportunity to enjoy their favorite sport almost every day leading up to the Christmas holidays. During the game break, teams typically filled their time with mini-camps featuring intense training sessions, while also including national team players in their lineup.
For instance, Capitals had Yaroslav Panchenko on the main national team and Nazar Boiko on the youth team. Similarly, our opponents fielded several national team players like Bohdan Diachenko, Viktor Zakharov, Oleksii Yanishevskyi, and Vadym Mazur against Poland. Sokil’s head coach, Oleg Shafarenko, was also involved in the national team’s activities. Additionally, Mykyta Polonytskyi and Maksym Zherebko, along with Boiko, participated in the U-20 national team matches after going through a training camp in Romania.
Both teams are heading into their upcoming match in high spirits and sit near the top of the tournament table. Vadym Shakhraichuk’s squad boasts 26 points and a four-game winning streak, while Sokil is just one point behind and remains undefeated in their last six matches.
Among the opponents, Viktor Zakharov stands out for his pivotal role in Sokil’s previous triumph over the Capitals. Also he netted ten goals in just six matches following his injury.
Turning to our team, Sevastian Karpenko also scored for ten times, closely trailed by Yaroslav Panchenko with eight goals and Andrii Kryvonozhkin with seven. Leading the assist chart with an impressive 13 assists is Mykyta Oliynyk, while Denis Berdniks (12) and Serhii Chernenko (11) also boast double-digit figures in this category.
It’s noteworthy that both teams have made transfers, with Sokil adding 17-year-old forward Maksym Vysotenko to their roster and Capitals welcoming back Finnish defender Eetu Moksunen.
In the ongoing championship, the teams have traded away victories with identical 2:1 scores. Therefore, today’s match presents a valuable opportunity to establish a local advantage in their head-to-head statistics.
Additionally, this round will feature two more matches: Storm-Odesa against Kremenchuk at home and Kryzhynka facing off against Dnipro.
