Spain’s new powerhouse Mataro stunned
Olympiacos in Piraeus to claim a two-goal win in the first leg of the
quarter-finals. The title-holders missed two penalties, the second in the most
crucial moment and that might cost them a lot. Fellow Greek side Glyfada were
six goals down early in the third period against Orizzonte, but the 8-time
winner Italian giant couldn’t hold on and the hosts survived the game with a
single-goal loss. The early afternoon quarter-final matches staged in the
greater Barcelona area brought mixed fortunes for the Spanish sides. Five-time
champion Sabadell downed SIS Roma with a dominant performance, but Mediterrani
were upset by Hungary’s young side Dunaujvaros at home.
Olympiacos Piraeus (GRE) v Assolim CN
Mataro (ESP) 9-11
This match-up would have been a
perfect final – however, the draw is preventing one of the giants to make the
Final Four. And the game was a firm proof for their outstanding quality as they
produced an outstanding match which had everything women’s water polo could
offer – fantastic moments and high drama.
Mataro, Spain’s emerging new
powerhouse with a couple of European great in the line-up, took the better
start, Silvia Avegno netted two early on, then Simone van der Kraats scored
twice in the last 36 seconds in the first to give the Spaniards a 2-5 lead.
After the stunning opener, the title-holder Greeks came back strong, pulled two
back in the second, shut out their rivals for the entire period, what’s more,
Vasiliki Plevritou could have equalised with 1:10 minutes before the middle
break but hit the post from a penalty.
And the hosts paid for that dearly as
Mataro not only halted their 9-minute-long scoreless run from the first
possession but added one more in 45 seconds to go 4-7 up. They could maintain
the three-goal gap till the end of the third and early on in the fourth, but
Olympiacos fought themselves back once more and with 3:58 to go they trailed
only 9-10. And again, 51 seconds later, the equaliser was just an easy shot
away, but this time the other Plevritou sister, Eleftheria missed the penalty.
That was even more crucial as the Spaniards had the last laugh, Silvia Morell
sent the ball home from a woman-up 46 seconds from time, so instead of a draw,
Mataro sailed away with a two-goal victory.
ANO Glyfada iRepair (GRE) v Ekipe
Orizzonte (ITA) 13-14
Glyfada could match the Italians’
pace only in the first period, though after coming back to 2-2, they fall back
quickly and trailed 3-5 after eight minutes. The second was a nightmare for the
hosts, the Italians went on adding three more while the Greeks could score
their first goal with 2:32 remaining in this period. Then Bronte Halligan
netted a 6 on 5 six seconds before the middle break for 4-9, so Orizzonte –
still No 1. on the all-time ranks with 8 trophies, though the last one came in
2008 – sat comfortably in the driving seat.
When Alice Williams buried a penalty
from their first possession for 4-10, the Italians looked to have the finest of
evenings, but the Greeks managed to regroup themselves and hit three in 87
seconds to halve the gap. And they carried on their momentum, two minutes later
netted another one for 8-10. Soon they had an extra to come back to a single
goal, missed it and at the other end Guilia Vicava ended Orizzonte’s miseries
with a woman-up goal for 8-11. Still, Glyfada weren’t broken, converted a
penalty 18 seconds from time and kick off the last period with an action goal
for 10-11. Viacava put away another extra from the next possession and a bit
later two more came from the Italians, so they were 10-14 up once more, with
4:06 to go. However, the Greeks still had more to offer, pulled one back from
an extra, then Stamatina Kontogianni buried two in 35 seconds for 13-14, with
0:50 on the clock. Orizzonte had a last 6 on 5 but missed it, so the return leg
promises some thrills in two-week time.
Astralpool Sabadell (ESP) v SIS Roma
(ITA) 15-10
Five-time champion and last season’s
runner up Sabadell set the tone early on as they stormed to a 4-0 lead, with
three action goals. The Italians climbed back though, deep into the second it
stood 4-3 while the hosts couldn’t score for almost seven minutes. But once
they hit the net again, they switched back to destroying mood and with three
goals in a span of 91 seconds they led 8-4 at halftime.
The pattern didn’t change much in the
third, Roma came back to 9-8 but Sabadell scored twice towards the end of the
quarter to go 11-8 up before the final act. And there they no longer let their
rivals back to the game. Judith Forca and Catharina van der Sloot put away two
woman-ups for 13-8, and with 1:07 to go Maica Garcia netted another extra so
Sabadell led by six, before Cecilia Nardini pulled one back. Dutch van der
Sloot and Elena Ruiz led Sabadell’s charge with four goals apiece, and the
five-goal advantage looks quite securing from the Spaniards’ angle.
CE Mediterrani (ESP) v Dunaujvarosi
VK 9-13
Dunaujvaros carried on stunning many
– after they managed to oust last season’s bronze medallist Padova (in Padova!)
in the prelims, now claimed a huge away win which might just as well send them
to the Final Four for the first time since 2006.
The Hungarian side, packed with
promising youngsters, staged a blistering start and rushed to a 0-4 lead. This
left the Spaniards stranded who couldn’t really regroup themselves from the
initial shock. They climbed back to 2-4 but were unable to cut the gap to a
single goal ever after. Dunaujvaros always found the way to score and after
leading 4-7 at halftime, in the third they went on rolling and jumped to 4-9
while shutting out Mediterrani for six minutes. Before the last break they
expanded the gap to six goals (5-11), so were very much in control.
In the fourth, the hosts netted two
quick goals for 7-11, but again, the Magyars could respond well and kept the
four-goal advantage till the end. This is a more than promising result, turning
their European campaign to a dream journey.
Euro Cup Women, Quarter-finals, 2nd
leg
Hungarians flying really high, Padova
back in business
All three Hungarian sides reached the
semis, despite their poorer performances in the first leg. UVSE blew away
title-holder Ethnikos in Athens, Ferencvaros came from behind to eliminate
Terrassa and Eger managed to erase their three goal-deficit against Vouliagmeni
and won in the penalty shootout. Italy’s Padova finally came up with a flawless
performance to oust Lille with ease.
Quarter-finals, 2nd leg
Lille UC (FRA) v Plebiscito Padova
(ITA) 5-11 – aggregate: 15-23
Ethnikos Piraeus (GRE) v UVSE
Budapest (HUN) 9-13 – aggregate: 19-23
FTC-Telekom Budapest (HUN) v CN
Terrassa (ESP) 14-9 – aggregate: 21-18
Tigra ZF Eger (HUN) v NC Vouliagmeni
(GRE) 14-11, pen: 5-4 – aggregate: 31-30
Last year’s Euro League bronze
medallist Padova had to go through some struggles which included a stunning
fall in the Champions League prelims and an unexpectedly tight game against
Lille two weeks ago. For this Saturday, the Italians bounced back and left no
doubt which were the better side in this duel. Lille had a fine start, led 2-1
but Padova staged a 0-4 run, then in the third they were rolling on and were
already 3-8 up to secure a double win and reach the semis with ease.
Title-holder Ethnikos (won the LEN
Trophy last spring) had earned a promising 10-10 draw in Budapest against UVSE
in the first leg and the two teams produced the same extremely balanced game
for a while. Up until 8-8 early in the fourth, only a single goal separated the
two sides, never more. Then, in a span of 18 seconds, Panna Szegedi hit two
action goals for UVSE and that floored the Greeks. For three more minutes they
were unable to come closer, then conceded two more in 51 seconds – and at 8-12,
with only 2:07 minutes remaining, it was all over.
Terrassa, arriving with a two-goal
advantage to Budapest, quickly doubled their lead in aggregate, but Ferencvaros
hit back with a 5-0 run still in the first period and the Spaniards couldn’t
really recover from that blow. In a crucial moment, at 6-4 deep into the
second, Pilar Pena missed a penalty and Dora Leimeter made it 7-4 just 37
seconds later – that was a crashing moment for the visitors. Having the
psychological edge, the hosts were even more dominating in the third while the
Spanish defence couldn’t withstand the pressure. Conceding four more goals and
being five goals down, Terrassa faced a mountain to climb in the fourth, but
the hosts were not in the mood to offer them any support. They even expanded
their lead to six three times to reach the first-ever European semis in the
women’s team’s history (and start catching up with the mighty men’s side).
To complete a perfect 3/3 record for
the Hungarians, Eger had to pull off something special since they had lost by
three goals to Vouliagmeni two weeks ago. Despite falling 3-4 behind in the
first period, the hosts came back strong for the following quarter to get close
by halftime as they led 7-5. In the third they levelled the aggregate score
twice, however, the Greeks scored two late in the third and trailed 10-9 before
the last break. The Magyars produced another fine spell early in the fourth, added
two while shutting out their rivals for 3:30 minutes. After 12-9, the Greeks
could pull back one on two occasions, but Eger could respond again and again,
so they were on equal terms once more in aggregate at 14-11 with 2:19 to go.
The hosts had a 6 on 5 1:14 from time but missed it leaving the decision to the
penalty shootout. The first four rounds saw no misses, but in the last one
Rebecca Parkes hit the winner as Stamatina Kaiafa’s shot was stopped by
Patricia Kiss, to finish a memorable day for Hungary as besides having three
teams in the semis, their Champions League participant Dunaujvaros also claimed
a stunning four-goal away win in Spain.
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