Even though the Women’s Euro Cup kicked off with only one nail-biter, De Zaan’s 10-8 victory over Plebiscito Padova was truly incredible.
The Dutch have very much been the surprise package this season, and Mick van de Bree’s team has claimed another huge scalp—the third-ranked team from the Euro League last season.
Elsewhere tonight, all three Hungarian teams recorded straight-forward victories against their French opponents; in Group B, FTC smashed Nancy 25-9 and UVSE saw off their French opponents Mulhouse 17-6. Eger didn’t trip up in Piraeus against Lille, winning 18-9.
The Greeks also had a successful evening, albeit against tamer opponents. Ethnikos routed Sirens 26-3, while the Vouliagmeni Nautical Club won comprehensively against a disappointing ZVL 1886 (18-6).
As mentioned, it was a night to forget for three French teams. The anomaly to that was presented by the reigning French champions, Lille, who impressed with a 20-7 win against the reigning German champions, Spandau.
The black sheep Terrassa, the only Spanish side not to progress to the quarterfinals of the Champions League, put on a commanding display over Pacense, winning 29-3. They can redeem themselves, and book a quarterfinal place in this competition, with a victory over Plebiscito tomorrow.
Group A
The two Group A juggernauts, Ethnikos and Eger, triumphed this evening in a manner that was entirely predictable.
Firstly, the hosts Ethnikos put Sirens to the sword, routing the Maltese side 26-3.
There were double-hat-tricks for Ioulia Kontoni and Effrosyni Katsimpri, while Alkistis Benekou converted five times in an incredibly one sided game. The Sirens were clearly outmatched, and two missed penalties in the fourth quarter didn’t help matters.
Meanwhile, the other game in Group A was slightly less one-sided, but still a comfortable win for Eger, who outscored Nice two to one (18-9).
While Nice’s young star Ema Vernoux could match Dorottya Szilagyi’s five goal haul in the game, that was where any sort of competition ended. Eger had reached double figures by half-time (11-4), and cruised home in the second half to a straight-forward win.
Josef Sike’s team might expect a similar fixture tomorrow, as they encounter Sirens. Nice will do well to take anything from Stefano Leandros’ Ethnikos.
Ethnikos 26 – 3 Sirens ASC Malta (5-2, 7-0, 6-0, 8-1)
Ethnikos: E. Sotireli, A. Karampetsou 2, M. Borisova 3, E. Beta 2, I. Kontoni 6, E. Katsimpri 6, F. Chatzikyriakaki, A. Benekou 5, M. Rakintzi, E. Kanetidou, L. Benekou 1, C. Andrews 1, A. Bekri
Sirens: A. Amato, E. Montfort, E. Amatom C. Amato, M. Perici Ferrante 1, K. Navarro, K. Agius 2, D. Micallef, Z. Bartolo, Z. Cutajar Licari, K. Agius
ZF Eger 18 – 9 Olympic Nice (6-2, 5-2, 3-2, 4-3)
Eger: A. Kiss, P. Jancso 2, I. Borsi 2, D. Molnar 1, Z. Katona 3, S. Szilagyi 1, D. Czigany 2, B. Kekesi 1, F. Bodi 1, C. Szellak, D. Szilagyi 5, M. Dulic
Nice: M. Chabrier, L. Vernouz, B. Van de Velde, J. Kohli, K. Noy, A. Grass, M. Barbieux, V. Tamas, E. Vernoux, L. Di Fraja, Y. Deschampt, I. Di Bartolo, C. Vidal
Standings
- Ethnikos – 1 – 3pts
- ZF Eger – 1 – 3pts
- Olympic Nice – 1 – 0pts
- Sirens ASC Malta – 1 – 0pts
Alkistis Benekou (Ethnikos) defends a shot from Martha Perici Ferrante (Sirens)
Group B
As expected, the two Hungarian sides in Group B secured relatively comfortable victories in the Eastern French city of Mulhouse.
A total team effort by Ferencváros resulted in a 25-9 win over Nancy in the opening match played of the evening. Dora Leimeter, Belen Vosseberg, and Greta Gurisatti all hit the target five times as the game’s leading scorers. Gyorgy Gerendas will only hope going forward that his side does not continue to concede at such a rate.
Fradi’s city rivals from Margaret Island also won their opening fixture against hosts Mulhouse, but by a more modest margin, with the Hungarian champions running out 17-6 winners.
The first quarter was fairly close, but a strong attacking exhibition from Kata Hajdu (3 goals) inspired the Purples to take a 10-4 lead at the turnaround.
Hajdu ended the game as UVSE’s leading scorer; while two players by the name of Eszter – 16 year old centre-forward Varro, and Macsai, both netted three goals in the game.
Grand Nancy 9 – 25 FTC Telekom (2-3, 3-5, 2-6, 2-11)
Nancy: L. Counil, C. Mari, A. Sabouriaut, C. Hanzo, M. Betard, P. Vizcarra, S. Pacheco Herce 3, C. Melik, L. Fanara 1, K. Benlekbir 4, A. Gabriele 1, P. Martinuea-Peret
FTC: B. Neszmely, B. Vosseberg 5, Z. Mate 1, G. Gurisatti 5, P. Pocze, E. Gulyas-Odal 2, D. Leimeter 5, A. Illes 2, S. Kuna, 1 P. Petik 1, D. Toth-Csabai 1, D. Domsodi 2, L. Greso
Mulhouse WP 6 – 17 UVSE (2-3, 2-7, 1-3, 1-4)
Mulhouse: L. Cruz Mancebo, V. Heurtaux 1, M. Le Roux 1, L. Forgacs, L. Guillet 2, L. Jean Michel, K. Mihaly 1, C. Bouloukbachi, A. Van Dyke, V. Kretzmann-Bahia, T. Raspo, A. Daule 1, R. Edgerton
UVSE: A. Magyari, T. Aubeli, E. Macsai 3, K. Hajdu 4, G. Szucs 1, E. Varro 3, V. Baksa, Z. Lendvay 1, P. Szegedi 2, P. Tiba 2, N. Golopencza, K. Peresztegi-Nagy 1, S. Golopencza
Standings
- FTC Telekom 1 – 3pts
- UVSE – 1 – 3pts
- Mulhouse WP – 1 – 0pts
- Grand Nancy – 1 – 0pts
Zoe Lendvay of UVSE (Photo: WP Inside/ Philippe Fretault)
Group C
NC Vouliagmeni kicked off their Euro Cup group stage campaign with a comfortable 18-6 win over ZVL 1886.
The Aussie Stingers could have done with the scoring prowess of Amy Ridge when they took on the USA earlier today, but instead the 26-year-old featured prominently in this game, netting five times.
Eleni Elliniadi, the leading scorer for Vouliagmeni this season in all competitions, scored four goals against a porous ZVL defence, while Emma Wright bagged a hat-trick in her first appearance in European competition.
This match was expected to be the most difficult for Kiki Liosi’s squad, who are currently second in the Greek A1 standings. Instead, they can likely anticipate advancing to the quarterfinals with a victory over Spandau tomorrow.
Speaking of Spandau, they were well beaten by Group C hosts Lille by an unflattering 20-7 scoreline.
The German champions fell to French opponents led by Greek coach Anestis Pesmatzoglou, who orchestrated a devastating first and fourth quarters. Five of the French side scored three times or more (Hardy, Dieke, Kordonskaia, Meijer and Kochetova), including German international Gesa Deike, who was playing against her former side.
Lille is now in a pretty decent position to advance to the Euro Cup quarterfinals and potentially cause a major upset. They are one win away from doing so as they square up to ZVL tomorrow.
ZVL 1886 6 – 18 NC Vouliagmeni (2-6, 0-4, 1-3, 3-5)
ZVL: J. Oosting, D. Kammerman, L. Roels, R. De Klee 2, L. Verhagen, N. Zwiers 2, D. Gras, K. Schuit 1, L. Terpstra, M. Van Veen 1, T. Van der Meer, J. Joor, C. Van Leeuwen
Vouliagmeni: M. Kotsioni, S. Kaifa 1, D. Kalogeropoulou, E. Elliniadi 4, A. Giannopoulou 1, A. Ridge 5, E. Tankeeva, E. Wright 3, K. Stratidaki, D. Andreadi, M. Mimidi 2, F. Angelidi 2, E. Patra
LUC Metropole 20 – 7 Spandau 04 Berlin (6-1, 5-4, 4-1, 5-1)
Lille: M. Rycraw, M. Ouchache 1, L. Baes, G. Fitaire, E. Hardy 4, G. Deike 4, V. Kordonskaia 3, E. Bovali 1, O. Hertzka 1, M. O’Reilly, N. Meijer 3, A. Kochetova 3, E. Lefebvre
Spandau: J. Milicich, E. Koch, M. Linder 2, I. Deike, C. Weber, N. Busauerova 2, N. Zelmer, U. Doerries 2, D. Czirbus, I. Riley, E. Houghton1 , M. Tutusaus Alcaraz, A. Oldenburg
Standings
- Lille UC – 1 – 3pts
- NC Vouliagmeni – 1 – 3pts
- ZV 1886 – 1 – 0pts
- Spandau 04 Berlin – 1 – 0pts
Group D
The best game of the day was in Group D between De Zaan and Plebiscito.
And ZV De Zaan continued to tear through the giants of Europe this season with an extraordinary 10-8 victory over last season’s Euro League bronze medalists, Plebiscito Padova (10-8).
Lieke Rogge led by example as captain, scoring four times against Laura Teani. Bente Rogge, Maud Koopman, and Danique Sap were Zaan’s other goal-getters.
After coming from behind twice in the game, Mick van de Bree’s spirited squad finally took the lead in the fourth quarter. Zaan’s extra-player moves were pretty effective up front, while they owe much to Dutch international Britt Van den Dobbelsteen, who saved a crucial penalty in the first quarter.
Plebiscito are now in a precarious position, as their game against Terrassa is a must-win. Stefano Posterivo’s side will be favourites going into that game, but that will by no means be an easy game. The Italians’ European campaign hangs in the balance.
If the first game in the group had a lot of suspense, the second couldn’t be more different.
In the last game of the evening, Terrassa thrashed Pacense in an incredibly one-sided game. With the score at 17-0 at half-time, we wondered whether the Portuguese side would register a score, and fortunately for them, Vanessa Freire (2) and captain Rafaela Duarte were on hand to spare their blushes.
Spanish international, Paula Camus hit five goals in the game, while a quite astounding six other Terrassa players converted hat-tricks (Fernandez, Cantero, Menakerman, Pena, Quinzada and Ten Broek).
Plebiscito Padova 8 – 10 ZV De Zaan (4-3, 1-2, 3-3, 0-2)
Padova: L. Teani, L. Barzon, V. Valyi 1, G. Citation, E. Queirolo 1, A. Casson, A. Millo 1, S. Dario, H. McKelvey 3, C. Meggiato, S. Centanni 2, B. Cassara, C. Giacon
Zaan: E. Alander, L. Rogge 4, L. Den Ouden, M. Schapp, T. Sam, E. Roijen, S. Vlesshakker, M. Koopman 2, D. Sap 2, A. Plugge, M. Van Tol, B. Rogge 2, B. Van den Dobbelsteen
CA Pacense 3 – 29 CN Terrassa (0-7, 0-10, 3-6, 0-6)
Pacense: A. Barbosa, L. Matos, C. Quinhentas, R. Duarte 1, J. Teixeira, M. Matos, A. Andrade, F. Duarte, B. Peixoto, M. Dias, V. Freire 2, B. Santiago, A. Sousa
Terrassa: S. Domene, L. Ferrer 4, K. Paul, M. Fernandez 3, C. Cantero 3, D. Quinzada 3, N. Ten Broek 3, P. Pena 3, D. Menakerman 3, P. Camus 5, A. Finestra, F. Bosveld 2, E. Arcas
Standings
- CN Terrassa – 1 – 3pts
- ZV De Zaan – 1 – 3pts
- Plebiscito Padova – 1 – 0pts
- CA Pacense – 1 – 0pts
Saturday 14th January
18:00 – Group A – Sirens ASC Malta vs ZF Eger
18:00 – Group C – NC Vouliagmeni vs Spandau 04 Berlin
18:30 – Group B – Grand Nancy vs UVSE
19:00 – Group D – CN Terrassa vs Plebiscito Padova
19:45 – Group C – LUC Metropole vs ZVL 1886
20:00 – Group A – Ethnikos Piraeus vs Olympic Nice
20:30 – Group B – Mulhouse WP vs FTC Telekom
20:30 – Group D – ZV De Zaan vs CA Pacense
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