Olympiacos narrowly defeated Vouliagmeni 10:9 in the first match of the final of the playoffs of the Greek League.
The reigning champion had a five-goal lead at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Vouliagmeni scored the last four goals in the game but couldn’t equalize.
2022/23 Greek League, playoffs, final (best of five)
Match 1
Olympiacos – Vouliagmeni 10:9 (5:3, 2:1, 2:1, 1:4)
Olympiacos: Zerdevas, Dimou, Grammatikos, Genidounias 3, Fountoulis 3, Gouvis, Dervisis, Buslje, Mourikis 3, Filipovic 1, Papanastasiou, Damigos, Gkillas, Liantziris. Head coach: Milanovic.
Vouliagmeni: Tzortzatos, Chayivopoulos, Kastrinakis, Kalogeropoulos 2, Troulos 2, Nikolaidis 1, Papasifakis 1, Woodhead 1, Alafragkis, Kapotsis, Kourouvanis 1, Farmer 1, Andreadis, Almyras, Konstantopoulos. Head coach: Vujasinovic.
Olympiacos opened the match excellently. The hosts built a 3-goal lead already in the fifth minute (4:1). Ioannis Fountoulis was Olympiacos’ power engine in the first quarter. He scored three goals in the first eight minutes.
Two goals separated the rivals after the first period (5:3). Olympiacos was 7:4 up at halftime. Early in the third, Konstantinos Genidounias netted his third goal, this time from a penalty to give Olympiacos a 4-goal lead for the first time (8:4). Troulos made it 5:8 in the middle of the quarter, but 19 seconds before the last break, Mourikis converted a man-up and, the hosts led 9:5 after 24 minutes.
Olympiacos was awarded a penalty shot in the first possession in the fourth quarter. Filipovic sent the ball into the net from the 5m line, the hosts went to 10:5, and the contest seemed over. Still, Vouliagmeni didn’t surrender. It returned to the game by scoring three unanswered goals in less than two minutes and cut the deficit to 8:10 (27th minute). Olympiacos’ attack didn’t work well in the final quarter, but the Red Whites kept the win. Vouliagmeni came to “-1” when it was too late. Papasifakis converted a penalty for 9:10 with 39 seconds left on the clock and set the final score. Olympiacos won the first game, but Vouliagmeni showed it could make the final very exciting.
3rd-place playoffs (best of three), Match 1
Apollon Smyrnis – Panionios 12:10 (3:4, 3:2, 3:3, 3:1)
Apollon Smyrnis: Bogdanovic 4, Chondrokoukis 3, Vickovic 2, Alamanos 2, Diplaros 1.
Panionios: Gounas 3, Bitadze 3, Kalaitzis 2, Kopeliadis 2.
The sides were tied at 9:9 before the final quarter. Apollon opened the final period with three goals in a row, which was vital for the hosts’ win. Panionios scored a consolation in the 31st minute.
5th-place playoffs (best of three), Match 2
PAOK – Peristeri 12:15 (4:2, 3:5, 1:4, 4:4) – the score in the series 0:2
PAOK: Kechalaris 3, Milardovic 2, Charalambopoulos 2, Karatzas 2, Koopman 1, Laskaridis 1, Saleh 1.
Peristeri: Chrysospathis 4, Ch.Bitsakos 3, Kazazis 2, Torakis 2, Karuntzos 2, Foskolos 2.
After a win at home, Peristeri beat PAOK in Thessaloniki and won 5th place.
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