Mora shows superb turnaround and wins the title — 04.10.2015

The situation didn´t look very good for the Swedish champions after the first period. The Finnish team Classic was up by 2:0 and added their third goal early in the second period. But then Mora players showed an excellent turnaround and after winning 13:6 they can celebrate the title from this year´s Champions Cup.

It was the Finns who went into the lead after a careful beginning of the game. Mora´s captain Anna Wijk sent an inaccurate pass right on the stick of Eliisa Alanko, who opened the score. Classic players surprised their opponents with great effort and enthusiasm in the opening period and their checks and tackles were mostly successful. And that´s why three minutes later the mood was even better on the Finnish bench, after Kristiina Kauppila sent the ball into the net right from the air.

The Swedish team didn´t improve their performance at the beginning of the middle period either, and Nina Rantala added Classic´s third goal. Only this was an impulse for the Swedish champions who then showed an offensive flurry. Therese Karlsson was the first one to reduce the score. Shortly afterwards Mora showed a nice combination finished with a successful shot by the national team defender Tschöp, and the team was back in contention. Only 17 later the Swedes had a great chance to level the score, but Wijk failed to score from a penalty shot.

Nevertheless, Mora players still continued in their scoring show. In the 31st minute the referees disallowed their goal due to high-sticking, but two minutes later everything was by the rules when Hansson scored from a quick breakaway. Classic didn´t manage to recover from the conceded goals and kept on making mistakes in defence. After one such blunder the Swedes had yet another opportunity to score from a penalty shot, but Moa Tschöp couldn´t beat the great goalie Kreeta Lakkala either.

Still the end of the second period was under Mora´s direction. In the 38th minute Malin Andreason scored a power play goal and sent her team into the lead for the first time. The superb turnaround was completed by the fifth goal, scored by Johana Holbom. After two periods, the Swedish team was up by 5:3.

Salla Suomela provided a glimmer of hope for Classic with a goal at 46:19, but the Swedish champions resolutely refused any drama. They added five more goals within three minutes, and even though the Finns managed to reduce the score twice, Mora responded with three empty net goals. The Czech forward Tereza Urbánková contributed to the match statistics with one assist. In the end, Mora triumphed in the final after beating Classic by 13:6.

KAIS Mora IF - Classic 13:6
goals: 25. Therése Karlsson, 31. Moa Tschöp, 33. Petra Hansson, 38. Malin Andréason, 40. Johanna Holmbom, 52. Therése Karlsson, 52. Anna Wijk, 53. Therése Karlsson, 54. Malin Andréason, 55. Ingela Hansson, 58. Amanda Wall, 58. Malin Andréason, 59. Johanna Holmbom - 12. Eliisa Alanko, 15. Kristiina Kauppila, 24. Nina Rantala, 47. Salla Suomela, 56. Eliisa Alanko, 60. Anne Suomalainen; referees: Mārtiņš Gross - Mārtiņš Larinovs; penalties: 2:3; PP goals: 2:0; attendance: 857; goalie saves: Amanda Hill 13, Linnea Jonsson 1 - Kreeta Lakkala 16; periods: 0:2, 5:1, 8:3;

Photos: Jan Pavlíček