Mogo/RSU defeated Romanian club Gyergyo 6:2 on Sunday in Angers, France, in their third IIHF Continental Cup Group C game, securing one of the two available spots in the final tournament. Elviss Želubovskis scored twice for Mogo/RSU, while Jānis Zemītis, Artūrs Veģeris, Kaspars Ziemiņš, and Rolans Vasiļjevs each added one goal.
In this decisive third game, Kārlis Mežsargs started in goal for Mogo/RSU, while Rasmus Rinne defended Gyergyo’s net. The Romanian side began the game more aggressively. Team captain Braniszló Orbán had a good chance in front of the net, but Mežsargs made the save. Gyergyo’s pressure eventually paid off – Dallas Geraghty broke through on the right and beat Mežsargs for the opening goal.
Midway through the period, Gyergyo received a cold shower, conceding two goals in just eight seconds. After a shot from Niks Feņenko, Elviss Želubovskis tipped the puck in to tie the game. Immediately after the faceoff at center ice, Jānis Zemītis broke away one-on-one with Rinne and scored with a backhand shot.
Gyergyo again started strongly in the second period, with Tamás Sarpatki firing a powerful shot from the left circle, but Mežsargs stood tall. In the 27th minute, the Latvian champions extended their lead. Feņenko fought for the puck, which fell to Artūrs Veģeris, who beat Rinne for the third time.
On the power play, the Romanian team pulled one back. After a shot from Péter Vincze, he and Hunor Csatár poked at the loose puck in front until it crossed the goal line.
If Gyergyo received a cold shower in the first period, they suffered a knockout late in the second – Mogo/RSU scored three times in 105 seconds. Kaspars Ziemiņš entered the zone and fired precisely off the left post, Rolans Vasiļjevs scored with a sharp-angle shot through a tight gap between the pad and the post, and Želubovskis added his second from the right circle to make it 6:2.
After the second intermission, Patrik Cala replaced Rinne in goal. Despite five penalties and extended moments of playing shorthanded, neither Cala nor Mežsargs allowed a goal in the final period, securing Mogo/RSU’s 6:2 victory.
Māris Martinsons, President of Mogo/RSU:
“Knowing other teams’ budgets and their ambition to advance, we went to the tournament in Angers hoping luck would also be on our side. We could have won the first game against the home team, but due to several circumstances we lost. Still, it provided strong motivation for the next matches. The team played very well, with great discipline, which brought results against the Italians. It was similar against the Romanians, who in my opinion were among the favourites. But sport is sport, and they left Angers without a single point.
Thanks to Ģirts Ankipāns and the coaching staff for an excellent tournament and for mobilising the team. And, of course, to the whole team for a job well done. They played extremely well, allowing us to earn a spot in the final in England. This proves that Latvian hockey and the OHL championship can compete with major hockey nations – and even beat them.”
Mogo/RSU, together with Group C winners Angers Ducs, secured a place in the Continental Cup final tournament, which will take place in mid-January in Nottingham, England. The other finalists are Nottingham Panthers, Herning Blue Fox (Denmark), Torpedo Ust-Kamenogorsk (Kazakhstan), and GKS Katowice (Poland).
Mogo/RSU’s next OHL game will be played on Thursday, 20 November at 19:00, away against the Riga team.
About Mogo/RSU
Founded in 2014, Mogo/RSU has become one of the strongest and most decorated hockey clubs in Latvia. The team won the Latvian championship in its very first season and repeated the achievement in 2019, 2024, and 2025. From 2016 to 2017, Mogo/LSPA claimed the Latvian Cup three years in a row, defeating HK Kurbads in each final. The founder and president of Mogo/RSU is Māris Martinsons, who is also a board member of the Latvian Ice Hockey Federation. The team’s head coach is former Latvian national team player Ģirts Ankipāns. Mogo/RSU’s general manager since the club’s first day is Elviss Želubovskis, who continues to represent the team on the ice as well.
(Translated using an artificial intelligence tool)
