Copa de la Reina: Powerhouses progress to semifinals

February 17, 2023

Photo: RFEN

The top four from last season’s Division de Honor are all through to the semi-finals of the Copa de la Reina in Spain, as the reigning champions Mataro will take on Terrassa, and Mediterrani face an uphill task against Sabadell.

There wasn’t much room for surprises today. Perhaps Sant Andreu were best placed to defeat their opponents, Mataro. But Dani Ballart’s team, coming off the back of victories against Sabadell and Olympiacos, were unlikely to have a day off. Mataro won 12-8.

Mediterrani were pushed hard by Catalunya, but ultimately Gabi Egedi’s team didn’t have the legs, and fell by a narrow 11-8 margin.

The hosts Terrassa performed in a similar way, but had the quality to see-off Barceloneta 11-7, while Sabadell pummeled Reina debutants, Tenerife Echeyde, by twenty goals (25-5).

CN Sant Andreu 8 – 12 CN Mataro (0-3, 4-3, 1-2, 3-4)

Sant Andreu: A. Lorca Merino, A. Rego, N. Mora Perez 2, G. La Farre Colominas 2, M. Cordobes 1, E. Lemay-Lavoie, I. Martinez, T. Prentice 1, M. Palacio 2, A. Ruiz, M. Terre

Mataro: M. Sanchez, S. Morell, S. Van de Kraats 4, V. Sevenich 1, R. Keszthelyi-Nagy 3, C. Cambray 1, C. Nogue, S. Avegno, Q. Bertran, A. Espar 2, M. Claveria Murillo, E. Carmona Herrera

Reigning Champions Mataro defeated Sant Andreu 12-8 in an impressive quarter final display.

Andreu couldn’t really handle Dutch dangerman Simone van de Kraats in the first period, who found the back of the net three times in the first eight minutes. Rita Keszthelyi, the Spanish Leagues top goal scorer, added three of her own.

While Sant Andreu did make a fight of it, Mataro was well worth the victory. Although there were a few instances of conceding sloppy scores in the middle part of the game, they look relatively comfortable in keeping Javi Aznar’s team out.

Dani Ballart’s team in some ways won on penalties. They converted five in the match, with three of Van de Kraats’ four goals coming from the 5m line.

Mataro really managed the game well in the first quarter. They sat in zone defence and punished Andreu on the breakaway. Van de Kraats put Mataro on the front foot though, bagging three goals in the first, two of which were from penalties.

Sant Andreu started to find some openings, though, and Maria Palacio and Marina Cordobes scored excellently for the side in white, who began to put Mataro under pressure (6-4).

Noelia Mora pulled Andreu within one goal in the third quarter to really put Mataro in a precarious position, but Andreu couldn’t come closer than that. More ill-discipline allowed Van de Kraats and Rita Keszthelyi to convert penalties (8-5), and two more from Keszthelyi in the last was enough to deliver a knock-out blow for Andreu.

Martina Terre couldn’t save her side today; she conceded 5 penalties. Photo: RFEN.

CN Terrassa 11 – 7 Zodiac CNAB (4-1, 1-0, 3-3, 3-3)

Terrassa: S. Domene, L. Ferrer, K. Paul, N. Morillo 1, C. Cantero 1, D. Quinzada, N. Ten Broek 1, P. Pena, D. Menakerman 1, P. Camus 6, A. Finestra, F. Bosveld 1, E. Monllor

Barceloneta: A. Farre Colominas, P. Rodriguez, N. Martin 1, C. Buscarons 1, N. Josifovic, J. Cereijo 1, U. Del Sol Agusti, N. Mandic, I. Piralkova, R. Tarrago 3, S. Garcoa, M. Madre Forte 1, B. Colominas

A strong first half, and a six goal contribution from Paula Camus propelled Terrassa into the semi-finals of the Copa de la Reina.

Terrassa enjoyed a four-goal lead at the start of the match, and while they couldn’t match that pace until the end, it was enough for Xavi Perez’s side.

In fact, despite the best efforts of Barceloneta, they never came closer than the three goals they trailed by at the end of the first quarter.

Terrassa were expected to progress, and they did. This trophy is their last shot at silverware this season, but they will have to play a perfect day to defeat reigning champions Mataro in the semi-finals.

Pili Pena in a tangle with Nerea Martin. Photo: RFEN.

CE Mediterrani 11 – 8 CN Catalunya (3-2, 1-2, 5-2, 2-2)

Mediterrani: I. Costa, A. Munoz, A. Crevier 2, A. Marcos, V. Bakoc, C. Rodriguez, C. Espar 4, D. Moreno, P. Prats 2, H. Dalmases, P. Crespi 1, S. Lizotte 2, G. Palm

Catalunya: M. Terre, C. Ball 1, C. Diaz 2, O. Tarrino, G. Bellido, B. Pascual 2, R. Schuijt 2, J. Frigola, C. Leonard, S. Diaz, M. Van Rijn 1, G. Ribo, H. Azzouz

Mediterrani are through to the Copa de la Reina semi-finals after a closely-fought 11-8 victory against Catalunya.

In a much closer game than many expected, it was Marian Diaz’s team that found crucial scores in the third period, which proved all-important.

Clara Espar continues to show her importance to this Medi team with four scores today, with the support cast of Paula Crespi, Sarah Lizotte, and Axelle Crevier adding double-strikes.

It didn’t take long for Paula Crespi to open the scoring with a well-taken penalty within the first attack, but it was Catalunya that hit back hard, netting two superb scores that gave Gabi Palm no chance. Clara Espar levelled things up at 2-2, and while Verica Bakoc couldn’t convert her 5 metre penalty, her Canadian compatriot, Axelle Creveir, nestled the ball in the bottom left-hand corner.

Left-hander Paula Prats gave Medi a two goal cushion into the second, but to the credit of Catalunya, they didn’t allow their opponents to pull away, equalising at the halfway stage (4-4).

But with the game in balance in the third (5-5), it was Mediterrani who took the initiative, sinking their opponents in a devastating 90 seconds with three straight goals from Lizotte, Crevier, and Espar. Mediterrani went into the final sector of the game three goals to the good.

With three minutes to play in the duel, Berta Pascual gave Gabi Egedi’s team hope, bringing them within two scores, but Clara Espar had the last laugh, hitting two goals in forty seconds to crush any hopes of a shock comeback.

Elena Ruiz was in typically ruthless form today. Photo: RFEN.

Astralpool Sabadell 25 – 5 Tenerife Echeyde (9-1, 6-2, 4-2, 6-0)

Sabadell: L. Ester, M. Ortiz 1, P. Leiton, S. Van der Sloot 3, M. Serrano 1, M. Steffens 1, E. Ruiz 5, M. Garcia 5, J. Forca 3, B. Ortiz 3, N. Perez, I. Gonzalez 3, M. Carrasco

Tenerife: J. Gaudreault, M. Sagrera, C. Rios Ramos, B. McDowell 3, D. Dominguez, J. Rodriguez, E. Pirat, J. Hernandez, M. Ramos, E. Alcon 1, E. Nicholson 1, A. Sanchez, F. Perez Paez

As has been so often the case this season when Sabadell are involved, there was a total non-contest today, with the reigning champions of Spain steamrolling over Tenerife Echeyde, 25-5.

It was a historic day for the side from Gran Canaria, at their maiden Copa de la Reina, and while that in itself is a congratulatory matter, there was nothing to celebrate in the pool today.

Elena Ruiz and Maica Garcia provided the firepower up front with ten goals shared equally between them, four others, Van der Sloot, Gonzalez, Bea Ortiz, and Judith Forca went home with triple-scores.

Sabadell will face Mediterrani in the semi-final.

A missed penalty inside the first thirty seconds from Bea Oriz might have given Echeyde reason to believe that luck was on their side, but David Palma’s side soon put them to the sword, jumping to a commanding 4-0 lead, which was extended to a jaw-dropping 9-1 advantage after the first quarter.

From there, it was one way traffic. Sabadell didn’t break a sweat in finding goals, while a well-oiled machine in defence kept them safe and secure at half-time (15-3).

A final quarter shut-out from Sabadell didn’t flatter them in any way, they were totally dominant as they reached a quarter of a century of scores.