The Philippines made a rousing debut at the IIHF World Championships level, blasting Indonesia with a 14-0 rout in the opening match of the Division IV tournament on Thursday at the Steppe Arena in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
The 30th Southeast Asian Games bronze medalists finally stepped onto the World stage after needing to withdraw from the tournament a year ago due to the lack of preparation brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.
And the Filipinos made sure the wait counted, as they scored four goals in their very first period at this level, with the first coming just 21 seconds into the match.
Carl Michael Montano found newbie Kenwrick Sze open for the shot, and it went past Indonesian keeper Izzan Rais. Montano then made sure to leave his imprint on the match, scoring three of the six goals in the second period to pull away from the Southeast Asian neighbors, 10-0, at the end of 40.
Sze finished the match the way he started it, putting up seven points on three goals and four assists, while Montano and new captain Manvil Billones added six points each. Montano, the Best Player, assisted on two other goals along with that first assist of the contest, while Billones added three goals and three assists in the clinical win.
The Filipino defense allowed just 10 shots on goal and none in from the Indonesians, making it an easy day for veteran goalkeeper Paolo Spafford, while the offense peppered the two Indonesian men between the posts, Izzan Rais and Arka Satyaandipa, with a combined 71 shots on goal.
The Nationals will go for another win in this four-squad field against host Mongolia on Saturday at 6 p.m.
