University hockey in Brno: Masaryk rules

“Brno is ours!" Last night these words rang out from the stands of a packed Kajot Arena. They were produced by fans of the Masaryk University ice hockey team, which defended its title in the Brno Universities Hockey Challenge. The side in blue defeated its opponents from the Brno University of Technology 5-3.

The foundations of the win were established in the first third of the duel; Masaryk University went in at the interval 3-1 up, thanks to goals by Aleš Staněk, Michal Matouš and Jiří Novák. Yet the Blues made a nervous start, conceding the first goal in the fourth minute.

“Losing that early goal knocked the stuffing out of us a bit, but luckily we pulled ourselves together. This was a harder-fought victory than last year's because BUT fielded a slightly stronger team," said MU coach Jiří Sedláček, who was already thinking about next year's match. “It should be even more interesting."

His side's performance was watched at Brno's hockey stadium for the second successive time by a sell-out crowd of 7000. “I have the feeling that the atmosphere and the match just get better and better, although it can't go on like this ever, I suppose," said Rastislav Bekényi, main organizer of the Challenge, who was obviously delighted at how things had gone. “I get terribly nervous on the day of the match. I won't take real pleasure from the success of the organization until tomorrow."

It is largely thanks to the great atmosphere that this unique duel attracts more and more players each year. Newcomers in the winning team included Norwegian Simen Brekke, a student on the English-language programme at the Faculty of Medicine who made the team thanks to recommendations from fellow students and the Blues' former coach Jiří Tobiáš.

Brekke said after the match that he considered it a present for his 22nd birthday, which he celebrated on 19 October. “The lads in the team told me what a great experience it was, and they were right." And that from a player with experience in Norway of the highest youth league who has also represented his country.

In the end Brekke did not figure on the score sheet, MU's other scorers being Lukáš Hnilička and Patrik Medřický, both veterans of the MU – BUT duel. This distinction is shared by Michal Matouš, who after completion of his Master's at the Faculty of Law has gone on to do a doctorate.

Matouš denies that he has remained at the university in order to continue to represent it in the Hockey Challenge. “For me it's about variety. I'm surprised by how many people at our faculty know about the match and that I play in it. Last year I got friend requests on Facebook from all kinds of people I didn't know," he said with a smile. And he may not have represented his university on the ice for the last time: he has been named in the squad for the Czech national team that will compete in December's World University Games.