Lida vs Neman Grodno

Lida stunned the visitors with an early opener. Maxim Yakunin converted at 11:45 of the first period, finishing a feed from Artur Parkhomchik to give the hosts a 1-0 lead they carried into the first intermission.

Neman grew into the game but found Lida goalkeeper Nikita Bronnikov in fine form. The breakthrough finally arrived at 39:48 of the second period — Vladislav Kuliev levelled the score with assists from German Poddubny and Igor Uss, sending the teams tied 1-1 into the second break.

The third period and five-minute overtime produced no further goals, taking the contest to a shootout.

The penalty shootout became a duel of attrition. Eight consecutive shooters — four from each side — failed to beat the opposing goaltender. Neman's Maxim Usmanovich and Lida's Matvey Toft were among those denied, while Bronnikov and Neman's Alexander Karnaukhov stood firm.

In the ninth round, Makeev stepped up and buried his attempt to give Neman the advantage. Alexander Idiatullin could not respond, handing Neman the extra point.

Nikita Makeev (Neman Grodno) — The defenseman scored the only shootout goal of the night and logged solid minutes on the blue line, helping limit Lida to 14 shots on goal across 65 minutes. He is the player of the match.

Nikita Bronnikov (Lida) — Made 13 saves on 14 regulation shots and stopped four shootout attempts. Deserved more than a loss for his performance.

Alexander Karnaukhov (Neman Grodno) — Faced 26 shots and kept Lida scoreless after the first period, including blanking them through the third period and overtime.

Maxim Yakunin (Lida) — Scored his third goal of the tournament with a well-taken first-period finish. Lida's most dangerous forward on the night.

Lida outshot Neman 26-14 but converted only once. That 12-shot differential — including 11 in the second period alone — tells the story of a game Lida controlled territorially but could not finish. Neman's discipline showed: they took 10 penalty minutes to Lida's 6, yet the home side could not capitalise on any power-play opportunity.

The underlying picture is clear: Lida created volume but not quality from dangerous areas, while Neman, despite fewer attempts, found the equaliser at a crucial moment just before the second intermission.

Neman Grodno remain top of Group A with 10 points from four matches (4-0-0), already assured of a quarter-final berth with two games still to play. Lida stay on 2 points, rooted to the bottom of the group after four losses from five outings, and now face a near-impossible task to reach the knockout stage.

Both teams next play on 22 August 2026: Lida travel to face Brest while Neman Grodno host Yunost Minsk.

A game that promised little in the first 11 minutes delivered a tense, low-scoring cup tie that swung on a single shootout attempt. Neman showed the resilience of tournament favourites by weathering Lida's best push in the second period and making their quality count when it mattered most. For Lida, the effort was there — but the results are not.