Sabadell and Mataro have met on six occasions this season across various competitions, including four final encounters. Following their commanding victories in the Spanish play-off semi-finals, it seems highly likely that the two teams will meet again in yet another final showdown.
Although there was some anticipation that Sabadell’s initial match against Mediterrani and Mataro’s encounter with Sant Andreu could potentially result in surprises, both matches quickly dispelled any such notions. The early dominance displayed by both Sabadell and Mataro strongly indicates that the upcoming second legs may lack the competitiveness expected.
2022/2023 Spanish Women’s League, play-offs, semi-finals
Astralpool Sabadell 12 – 4 CE Mediterrani (3-1, 3-0, 2-1,4-2)
Sabadell: L. Ester, M. Ortiz, P. Leiton, S. Van der Sloot 2, I. Casado, M. Steffens 2, E. Ruiz 2, M. Garcia 1, J. Forca 2, B. Ortiz 1, N. Perez, I. Gonzalez 2, M. Carrasco.
Mediterrani: O. Gonzalez, A. Munoz, A. Crevier 1, A. Marcos, V. Bakoc, P. Prats, C. Espar, D. Moreno 1, C. Rodriguez, H. Dalmases, P. Crespi 1, S. Lizotte 1, G. Palm.
CN Mataro 17 – 11 CN Sant Andreu (5-4, 4-2, 6-1, 2-4)
Mataro: E. Sanchez, S. Morell 2, S. Van de Kraats 5, A. Gual, V. Sevenich, R. Keszthelyi 5, C. Cambray, C. Nogue, S. Avegno 2, Q. Bertran, A. Espar 1, M. Claveria, E. Carmona
Andreu: A. Lorca, A. Ros Rego, N. Mora, Q. Boixadera, G. La Farre Colominas 1, H. Shabb 3, M. Cordobes 3, E. Lemay-Lavoie 2, I. Martinez, T. Prentice 1, M. Palacio, A. Ruiz, M. Terre
There wasn’t much in the way of excitement in either of the first semi-finals, with Spain’s top-two teams – Sabadell and Mataro – winning with ease at home.
In the game played on Monday, Sabadell made an extremely strong start to their play-off campaign, comprehensively defeating Mediterrani in their first semi-final contest (12-4).
Mediterrani stunned Sabadell in the play-offs last season, but it was all too easy for the Champions League winners this time around, who were cut and dry better than their opponents.
At their fortress Can Llong, Sabadell were really impressive without the ball – their ironclad defence was held up by an inspired showing from veteran keeper, Laura Ester.
David Palma’s side came out of the gates blazing, quickly storming to a 3-0 lead within the opening two minutes. A second quarter shut-out further cemented Sabadell’s dominance, taking a commanding 6-1 lead into halftime. The second half proved to be more of the same, as Judith Forca and Elena Ruiz added two more goals to Sabadell’s tally, putting the game well out of reach. Maggie Steffens added a late brace to cap off the impressive victory.
Meanwhile, Mataro’s goal machines Rita Keszthelyi and Simone Van de Kraats high fived against Sant Andreu – combining for 10 goals in the game on the Maresme Coastline.
Dani Ballart’s team amassed an early 3-0 advantage which was soon extended to 5-1. However to Andreu’s credit, they found the next three goals and bounced back to 5-5 into the second period. The comeback from Javi Aznar’s team, however, was short-lived, with Mataro restoring their cushion at half-time (9-6).
An early hat-trick in the third quarter from Rita Keszthelyi wiped away any chances of a Sant Andreu revival; Anni Espar, returning from her title win in Australia added her first of the game, and goals either side of the the third quarter break from Van de Kraats settled the game as a contest (16-7).
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