Slovenian ice hockey team opens Olympics with upset over U.S.

Feb. 14 (UPI) -- The Slovenian men's ice hockey team opened the Olympic tournament on Wednesday in Pyeongchang with a 3-2 win over the favored United States in overtime.

It was a come-from-behind victory for Slovenia, who trailed the Americans until the 46th minute, when Blaž Gregorc scored to reduce the U.S. lead to 2-1.

The comeback was complete with less than two minutes to go in regulation, with Jan Muršak equalizing the score at 2-2 and forcing overtime.

Slovenia was quick to score and secure the win in overtime, as Muršak scored again only 38 seconds into the extra time to secure what was only the nation's third win at the Winter Olympics.

Slovenia will play Russia on Friday and wrap up the preliminary round in Group B against Slovakia on Saturday.

This is the Slovenian team's second appearance at the Winter Olympics. In their first appearance in Sochi, Slovenia made it to the quarter finals, where they were defeated by Sweden.