Today, May 1, the fourth round match of Division IA in the 2025 World Championship took place, featuring the teams of Ukraine and Poland.

Both teams entered this match with six points each, making it a direct contest for second place in the group.

The first period saw no goals scored, but this changed at the start of the second period when Alan Lushcharchik scored on the power play.

Fortunately, from that point on, only Ukrainian players found the net. Viktor Zakharov equalized during the second period, and then completed a double just four minutes into the third period.

Later, Stanislav Sadovikov and Danil Traht also scored, leading Ukraine to a decisive 4:1 victory.

World Championship Hockey – Division IA
Round 4, May 1

Poland – Ukraine 1:4 (0:0, 1:1, 0:3)

Goals: 1:0 – 25:28 Lushcharchik (power play), 1:1 – 32:23 Zakharov, 1:2 – 43:08 Zakharov, 1:3 – 50:16 Sadovikov, 1:4 – 55:00 Traht.

With this victory, Ukraine has caught up with Division IA leaders Great Britain, with both teams now having nine points ahead of the final round. Earlier, the British defeated Italy, winning their fourth match in the tournament.

In their last match, the "blue and yellow" will face Japan. The outcome of this game will determine Ukraine's fate: a win will guarantee their place in the elite division of the World Championship. This game is scheduled for Saturday, May 3.

It is worth noting that the last time the Ukrainian national hockey team participated in the elite division was in 2007 when the World Championship was held in Moscow.