Vitkovice defeats Chur in a thrilling semi-final — 04.10.2014

The Swiss champions Piranha Chur missed the final of the Champions Cup in their own country only by a hair´s breadth. SC Vitkovice wins against Chur 2:1.

Piranha Chur, winner of group B at the Champions Cup 2014 was the clear favourite in their semi-final against SC Vitkovice. However, the Czech team started with a surprisingly offensive play. It was Martina Mahdalova who missed a promising chance in the Swiss box after three minutes.

This was something like a wake-up call for the team out of Chur. Thus, Piranha put in the forward gear and started to dominate the game. The logical consequence: A 1:0 lead thanks to a goal of Hanka Lackova, assisted by Katri Luomaniemi. Even though the Swiss largely controlled the game, they were not able to build up pressure in the opponent’s zone. Thus, the teams went into the first break with a wafer-thin lead for Piranha Chur on the scoreboard.

Chur played too inefficient

Vitkovice went into the second period with some good opportunities, either blocked by the Swiss defensewomen or their goalkeeper Lara Heini.Nevertheless, it was Seraina Ulber in the Piranha’s dress who’s wristshot hit the post in the 25th minute. Notwithstanding the fact that Vitkovice had its dangerous counterattacks, Chur was still the dominating team.

But the Swiss champions were still not able to score. Not even in powerplay they managed to shot the ball into the net. But neither did Vitkovice, so Hanka Lackova stayed the one and only scorer within the first two periods.

Lara Heini with a tremendous performance

At the beginning of the third and last period, Chur lost its control of the game.Moreover, the Swiss team had to defend its 1:0 lead in a three against five situation because Mia Karjalainen (2 min) and Sonja Putzi (5 min) got a penalty each. Although Chur’s goalkeeper Lara Heini showed some phenomenal saves during the box play of the Swiss team, Vitkovice managed to score in the last seconds of their powerplay.

It was already the 59^th minute, when everything indicated an overtime. But it was Vitkovice’s Kamila Paloncyova who scored the game winning goal one minute and 49 seconds before the last whistle. Chur tried its best and Lara Heini was replaced by another player, but the Swiss were not able to come back into the game.

Vitkovice follows Djurgargens IF into the final

Thanks to that nerve-racking 2:1 win against Chur, the Czech champions qualified for the final of the Champions Cup 2014. Chur’s head coach NatalieStadelmann commited right after the game: “The Czechs had a very strong defense and that made it extremely hard to score.” Viktovice’s goalkeeper Lenka Kubickova, who was only beaten once in that game, said that she feels great after that lucky wafer-thin victory. “They have good defenders, but they played better against the Swedish team”, she also said. Speaking of the Swedish team Djurgardens IF, who’s going to be the opponent of Vitkovice in the final: “They are the better team than we are, so we have to give 200% to win this game and the championship.”

Best Players:
Piranha Chur: Nr. 24, Flurina Marti
1. SC Vitkovice: Nr. 77, Mirva Laitinen

(Photos:MichaelPeter/André Burri)

More photos from the match by MichaelPeter and André Burri can be found on IFFFlickr.