BRATISLAVA, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- The battle for the leading position in the Slovak premier hockey league Tipsport Liga continues after Banska Bystrica and Bratislava won their respective clashes in the 11th round on Sunday.
Both teams stretched their remarkable winning streaks to five and Bratislava still trails Banska Bystrica by a single point.
Last season's champions from Banska Bystrica continue their hunt for their fourth championship title in a row and remain on top of Tipsport Liga thanks to a close 2-1 victory over their archrival, Nitra hockey club.
Last year's runner-up Nitra struggles in the new season, despite hiring a new coach, and stays on 11th place in the rankings.
Detva's four-game winning streak got broken by Bratislava's even more impressive fifth triumph in a row. The visitor's top scorer Tomas Zigo added another goal and two assists to his statistics, helping the team from Slovakia's capital city win 4-2. Detva remains near the bottom of the rankings in 10th despite their previous impressive run.
Zvolen moves up to third place, stretching their winning string to three after defeating the league's newcomer Michalovce 5-2 and serving them their third consecutive defeat. Rastislav Spirko put the visitors ahead only fourteen seconds into game, his teammate Marco Halama led his team with two goals scored on a man advantage. Michalovce lost their first home game of the season.
Trencin is also on a roll with three consecutive victories, occupying fifth place. Miskolc, one of the two Hungarian teams playing in the Slovak league, got startled by the visitors' strong series of four goals by four different shooters, failing to mount a comeback later in the game and losing 4-2 in the end.
Budapest, the other Hungarian club in the Liga, had no trouble crushing the last placed Liptovsky Mikulas 6-0. The American C. J. Stretch scored twice in the third period and added one assist to his collection to help the club from Hungary's capital keep pace with the teams occupying the middle of the rankings.
The clash between Poprad and the struggling team from Nove Zamky was decided by a single goal. The new addition to Poprad's roster Michael Vandas scored on a man advantage and served the visitors their fifth consecutive defeat that cements them in the penultimate spot in the rankings.
