Plebiscito Padova retained their Italian League title after a surprising victory in the final match. Orizzonte Catania — a favorite for the trophy — lost to Padova with 10-9 in the penalty shootout.
A Match Worth the Finals
The anticipation for Scudetto at the Final Six in Florence did not betray the expectations. The match ended the turbulences between two great teams as the decisive penalty miss from Rosaria Aiello made Orizzonte fall to the second place. The regular season leaders made too many mistakes in the attacks. Only three out of nine extra player attacks were scored, which is surprising for their statistics of over 200 goals scored in the league and League three top scorers.
This was the fifth meeting between the two teams this year. Catania won two matches in the championship, and Padova carried two victories in the Final Europe Cup.
L’Ekipe Orizzonte-Plebiscito Padova 9-10 (6-6)
Quarters: 0-1, 0-2, 4-0, 2-3 (3-4)
Plebiscito Padova managed to retain their Italian League title after claiming a surprising victory in the final against the heavy favorite to win the trophy, Orizzonte Catania, 10-9 in the penalty shootout. This is Stefano Posterivo’s fourth consecutive “Scudetto”, clinched this time in the worst conditions considering their rival was heavily favored to win the title thanks to their major stars Ashleigh Johnson and Catharina van der Sloot.
The champion dominated the early exchanges (1-0, 2-0), but their efforts were almost countered from a moral point of view, as Orizzonte cruised to a 0-4 in the third quarter. With 3-4 in the scoreboard with just eight minutes to go, the match took a thrilling turn, as both finalists had the odds in their favor. Plebiscito took the lead again (6-5), but Van der Sloot netted an equalizer 1’16” before the end of the match.
Both teams gave everything they had in the penalty shootout and the match was only decided in the eighth shot, missed by Rosario Aiello, which gave Plebiscito the victory.
The Penalties (3-4)
- Barzon goal
- Garibotti goal
- Sohi goal
- Marletta saved
- Queirolo goal
- Bianconi goal
- Millo goal
- Van der Sloot goal
- Savioli M. saved
- Aiello missed
The Third Place
Rapallo-Bogliasco Bene 7-5
Quarters: 3-0, 2-3, 1-2, 1-0
Rapallo led the game to the half-time (5:3), but then Bogliasco Bene made comeback equalizing to 5:5 during the third quarter. Finally, Van der Graaf and Avegno won the game for Rapallo.
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