Italian Women’s A1: Top four start the new year with three points

January 7, 2023

Photo: WP Inside

The Italian Women’s A1 resumed its regular schedule of games today, and the top four teams in the standings all won their matches.

SIS Roma won convincingly against Bologna (15-5), while Ekipe defeated Bogliasco and Plebiscito defeated Trieste (both by 11-8). Late in the game, Florentia rallied from behind to beat Como by a single goal, 7-6 while before that in the first game of the day, Rapallo edged out Brizz for their fifth win of the season.

After eight games, Roma are the only unbeaten team in the league – they face Ekipe Orizzonte next weekend in a hugely anticipated clash.

Ekipe Orizzonte 11 – 8 Bogliasco 1951 (3-1, 2-3, 5-1, 1-3)

Orizzonte: L. Celona, B. Halligan 1, C. Grasso, . Lombardo, V. Gant 2, D. Bettini 1, G. Oliva, C. Marletta 4, G. Gagliardi, A. Williams 3, A. Longo, M. Leone, A. Condorelli

Bogliasco: V. Ucella, A. Riccio, B. Rosta 1, G. Cuzzupe 1, A. Mauceri, G. Millo 2, G. Lombella, R. Rogondino 2, M. Paganello 1, G. Cavallini, M. Carpaneto, D. Spampinato 1

Ekipe Orizzonte started the year 2023 with a hard-fought 11-8 victory over Bogliasco 1951.

The game was decided by a strong effort in the third quarter, but Bogliasco’s never-say-die attitude made things difficult for the defending champions, who will be tested to the limit later this month when they take on league leaders Roma.

Claudia Marletta added four more goals to her tally, and Alice Williams kept her place among the league’s top scorers (26 goals in eight games) with a hat trick of her own.

RN Bologna 5 – 15 SIS Roma (1-2, 1-7, 2-3, 1-3)

Bologna: O. Sesena, A. Repetto 2, V. Perna 1, R. Lekness, A. Mazzia, G. Toselli, C. Morselli 1, M. Lepore, M. Marchetti, F. De Vincentis 1, E. Altamura, F. Toth, L. Guidoreni

Roma: E. Eichelberger, M. Misiti 1, G. Galardi 3, S. Carosi, S. Giustini 3, A. Aprea, D. Picozzi 3, C. Tabani 3, C. Nardini 1, L. Di Claudio, A. Cocchiere 1, L. De Luca, G. Galbani

A 7-1 second quarter helped the league-leading SIS Roma team cruise to a 15-5 victory away at Bologna.

Due to the nature of the matchup (top versus bottom), the home team needed a miracle to get anything out of this game, but Roma came out on top, keeping them in first place in the Italian A1.

Marco Capanna’s team could only create a single goal advantage after eight minutes of play, but by half-time, the Romans exploded to a 9-2 lead, thanks to goals in that quarter from Giuditta Galardi 3, Chiara Tabani 2, Agense Cocchiere and Sofia Giustini.

A second half hat-trick from Domitilla Picozzi shut out Andrea Posterivo’s side, who sit bottom of the league.

This sets up the Yellow-Reds for a massive showdown with the current champions, Ekipe Orizzonte.

Plebiscito Padova 11 – 8 Pallanuoto Trieste (1-3, 4-3, 4-1, 2-1)

Padova: L. Teani, L. Barzon 1, V. Valyi 1, G. Citino 1, E. Queirolo 1, A. Casson 1, A. Millo 1, L. Tognon 1, H. McKelvey 1, E. Bacelle, S. Centanni 2, B. Cassara 1, G. Giacon

Trieste: F. Sparano, D. Vomastkova, E. De March, E. Splatter, G. Marussi, L. Cergol 3, G. Klatowski 1, F. Colletta, G. Zizz, J. Vukovic 2, I. Riccioli 1, R. Santapaola 1, G. Gregorutti

Plebiscito Padova began the calendar year with an exciting 11-8 victory over Pallanuoto Trieste.

After a back-and-forth first half, Beatrice Cassar and Elisa Queirolo scored for the winning side, and then the two Alessia’s (Casson and Millo) added two late goals in the period to put the game out of reach for Paola Zizza’s squad.

While the team’s performance against Roma at the end of the previous season was less than stellar, head coach Stefano Posterivo will be pleased with how they began the new year. The Plebiscito and Canada’s assistant coach will be especially pleased with the fact that ten of their eleven outfielders contributed to the team’s attacking success.

Padova will now take another break from the Italian A1 to focus on their Euro Cup campaign.

Having dropped two games in a row, Trieste now has a 4–4 record on the season and finds themselves in fifth place.

RN Florentia 7 – 6 Como Nuoto (3-2, 1-2, 1-1, 2-1)

Florentia: C. Banchelli 1, E. Gabelli, L. Lepore, S. Cordovani 2, N. Vittori, L. Nesti 2, B. Mugnai, M. Pantani 1, B. Merli, I. Landi 1, A. Gattini, G. Pellegrino

Como: G. Frassinelli, M. Romano, M. Fisco 1, J. Tedesco 2, E. Borg, E. Giraldo, R. Bianchi 1, A. Iannarelli 1, B. Romano, G. Lanzoni 1, F. Cattaneo, A. Radaelli, A. Volpato

There was late excitement in Florence as Aleksandra Cotti’s side snatched a victory over the visiting Como with a score inside the last moments of the game.

Florentia, who are now level on points with Brizz, Bogliasco and their opponents today, came from behind in the last quarter to win the game by a single goal. Seventeen year old local, Margherita Pantani, equalised with five minutes to play, before Letizia Nesti converted a penalty with 1:42 to play.

Brizz Nuoto 9 – 11 Rapallo Pallanuoto (2-5, 3-4, 0-0, 4-2)

Brizz: H. Santapaola, F. Sapienza 2, A. Vitaliano 1, N. Sasover 1, A. Arcidiacono, M. Spampinato, C. Cappello, I. Pane 1, G. Pastanella, V. Santoro 2, M. Giuffrida 1, A. Milicevic 1, F. Paladino

Rapallo: S. Caso, N. Zanetta 4, U. Gitto 1, I. Rossi, D. Carrasco Leyva 1, L. Vanelo 1, G. Gnetti, B. Cabona 1, S. Costa, G. Cerliani, R. Bianconi, G. Aplilongo 3

Three excellent quarters for Rapallo were enough for them to overcome Brizz in the first game of the day.

Four goals from the clinical Nicole Zanetta, and three from Gaia Apilongo helped Rapallo on their way, and ultimately Luca Antonucci’s team held off a late assault by Brizz.