Ten shootout attempts, a single goal. Player of the Week Ligas decided the semifinal his own way: I figured I'd rather do it my way!

The Player of the Week in the RAHL2 hockey league is Martin Ligas of team Uličníci Pressburg, who in the first playoff semifinal game decided his team's 2:1 shootout win over Hockey For All. In an exceptionally even game, the only successful shootout attempt came off his stick, which gave Uličníci a 1:0 lead in the series. After the game we talked with Martin about his decisive moment, the team's performance and expectations ahead of the second semifinal game.

1. Only one goal, but a very important one. How would you rate your performance?

Martin: “No comment, if you don't mind.”

2. You won the first semifinal game against Hockey For All 2:1 in a shootout. How would you rate your team's performance?

Martin: “Fortunately, the team's performance was much better than mine, and a big thank-you goes to my teammates for that … Because if everybody had played like me on Sunday, we'd have gotten a beating.”

3. ⁠ The game had to be decided in a shootout, where you were the only one of ten shooters who managed to score. Did you know in advance what you wanted to do, or did you figure it out on the fly?

Martin: “Imro (Peter Imrich) tried to give me advice on the bench before my attempt, but I stopped listening to him the moment he said ‘listen to me’… so I figured I'd rather do it my way.”

4. ⁠ How do you see your chances in the second game?

Martin: “I don't like answering questions of this kind. For me, it's going to be extremely tough against HFA. They have quality at every position, from the goalie through the defense all the way to that offense of theirs. In the first game our goalie Maťko Berenčík bailed us out enormously.”

5. Apart from yourself, which player on your team would you name as the player of the game, and why?

Martin: “I'll take the liberty of naming two. The first is definitely the already mentioned Maťko Berenčík… without him we wouldn't even have gotten to the shootout, and there he even stopped all 5 of the opponent's attempts. The second is Lukáš Urban, because without his goal we wouldn't even have gotten to the shootout either. So the choice is clear.”

The semifinal series between Uličníci Pressburg and Hockey For All kicked off exactly the way you expect in the playoffs. With a tight, hard-fought and dramatic game that went all the way to a shootout. With the 2:1 win Uličníci earned the first point in the series, but it is clear to everyone that it is far from decided. The second game will show whether they can also take the decisive step toward the final.