Trieste caused a surprise on Day 4 of the Italian Championships, by beating reigning champion Brescia 13:12.
A Sicilian derby, Catania – Ortigia, was very exciting, too. Ortigia was a favorite and recorded a win. However, the Syracuse-based club had a tough task. Ortigia defeated Catania 11:10.
Pro Recco continued its winning streak with an easy win over the bottom-placed Metanopoli.
2021/22 Italian League, Round 4
Trieste – Brescia 13:12 (5:4, 4:2, 1:4, 3:2)
Trieste: Mezzarobba 3, Bini 3, Mladossich 2, M.Vrlic 2, Petronio 1, Bego 1, Razzi 1.
Brescia: C,Presciutti 3, Dolce 2, Luongo 2, E.Di Somma 2, Lazic 1, Vapenski 1.
Catania – Ortigia 10:11 (3:3, 2:4, 2:2, 3:2)
Catania: Privitera 4, Eskert 2, Kacar 1, Ferlito 1, Tringali 1,La Rosa 1.
Ortigia: S.Rossi 3, Cassia 2, Gallo 2, Condemi 1, Klikovac 1, Vidovic 1, Napolitano 1.
Metanopoli – Pro Recco 4:21 (1:5, 1:2, 2:10, 0:4)
Milano Metanopoli: Lanzoni 2, Tononi 1, Kasum 1.
Pro Recco: Younger 4, Zalanki 3, Loncar 3, Canella 3, Echenique 2, Velotto 2, Bertoli 2, Di Fulvio 1, N.Presciutti 1
Savona – Salerno 12:7 (2:2, 4:2, 2:2, 4:1)
Savona: Fondelli 4, Iocchi Gratta 3, Vuskovic 1, Molina 1, Rizzo 1, Campopiano 1, Giovanetti 1.
Salerno: Tomasic 3, M.Luongo 2, Esposito 1, Parrilli 1.
Quinto – Telimar 7:14 (2:4, 3:2, 1:6, 1:2)
Iren Genova Quinto: Panerai 2, Ravina 2, Nora 2, Figari 1.
Telimar: Basic 4, Lo Dico 2, Occhione 2, Del Basso 1, Di Patti 1, Vlahovic 1, Gilberti 1, Lo Casco 1, Irving 1.
Posillipo – Lazio 15:11 (5:2, 4:2, 3:3, 3:4)
Posillipo: M.Di Martire 5, Lanfranco 4, Tkac 3, Radonjic 2, Iodice 1.
Lazio: Leporale 2, Checchini 2, Ferrante 2, Nenni 1, Gambin 1, Vitale 1, Caponero 1, Paskovic 1.
Anzio – Roma 7:7 (2:2, 2:2,1:2, 2:1)
Anzio Waterpolis: Lapenna 2, D.Presciutti 2, Siani 1, Gandini 1, Giorgetti 1.
Roma Nuoto:Spione 3, F.Fragalia 2, Ciotti 1,Calic 1.
Trieste isn’t an underdog in the Italian championship. Everybody knew that Brescia would have a hard task today. Still, few expected that Trieste would down the reigning champion, which has played very well both in the Champions League and in the Italian League since the start of the season. The game was an even contest from the beginning. Trieste took control after the first break, and built a three-goal lead (9:6) by halftime. However, Brescia managed to come back, and caught up Trieste in the 21st minute (9:9). Vrlic gave Trieste a 10:9 lead, but Presciutti leveled at 10:10 in the 23rd minute.
After 140 seconds of play in the fourth period, Brescia earned a 2-goal lead for the first time (12:10). But, the visitors ran out of energy for the final minutes. In the middle of the last period, Trieste scored three goals in three minutes. Bego found the net for 13:12 with 02:20 minutes left. There were no goals in the remaining time, and the hosts celebrated.
The Sicilian derby was held in Catania, at the base of the volcano Etna. After a balanced first quarter, Ortigia “erupted”, and scored three straight goals in four minutes for a 6:3 advantage. Catania managed to reduce the gap before the middle break (5:7). The hosts came even closer early in the third period (6:7), but the visiting side responded for 8:6 shortly after. The rest of the game followed the same pattern – Catania was chasing Ortigia and reduced the gap to one goal several times, but Ortigia responded on each occasion. A minute and seven seconds before the final buzzer, Rossi scored from a distance to give Ortigia an 11:9 lead. Catania’s Kacar responded immediately – 10:11. It turned out that it was the final score. Ortigia failed to score in its last possession, but Catania didn’t have enough time to equalize.
Pro Recco beat Metanopoli. The game was played in the “Punta Sant’Anna” pool in Recco, although Metanopoli was officially a home team. But, the Milan-based side doesn’t have an available pool in its city, and has chosen “Punta Sant’Anna” as their home field. As expected, Pro Recco recorded a convincing win while Metanopoli remains locked for the bottom of the table. At halftime, Recco led 7:2, but it didn’t stop and ran over Metanopoli in a 10:2 third quarter. Aaron Younger was the best scorer with four goals. Luka Loncar and Gergo Zalanki netted three both.
After a big 3:14 loss to Brescia last week, Savona returned to the winning track. Savona, which was encouraged by a good result in the 1st leg of the LEN Euro Cup quarterfinals (a draw in Sabadell), defeated Salerno. Savona led 6:4 at halftime. Salerno cut the deficit to one twice (5:6 and 6:7), but the hosts regained a 2-goal lead before the final period (8:6). Two minutes before the end, two goals separated the rivals (7:9). Still, Savona scored three goals in a row in the remaining time and secured a comfortable 12:7 victory. Andrea Fondelli found the net three times, Matteo Iocchi Gratta netted three, as well as Salerno’s Tomasic.
Telimar opened the match against Quinto in Genoa with two goals in the first minute and led throughout the game. However, the hosts kept up with the favorites until the middle break. But, Telimar dominated the third period. The visitors entered the final quarter leading 12:6 and Quinto wasn’t able to come back. Andrija Basic topped the scorers’ list with four goals.
Posillipo hosted Lazio and built a 5-goal lead by halftime (9:4), which proved vital for a 15:11 victory. The former European champion collected its first points in the season.
A very exciting game was played in Anzio, where newcomer Anzio and Roma shared the points. In the 17th minute, Anzio had a 5:4 lead. But after that, Roma held the host goalless for 12 minutes, while it produced a 3:0 run to earn a 7:5 advantage. Midway through the fourth period, Anzio halved the deficit (6:7), while Lapenna closed the match with an action goal for the final score – 7:7. Roma is still winless, but it earned its first point this season.
1 Pro Recco 4 – 12
2 Ortigia 4 – 12
3 Trieste 4 – 10
4 Brescia 4 – 9
5 Savona 4 – 9
6 Telimar 4 – 7
7 Salerno 4 – 6
8 Anzio 4 – 5
9 Posillipo 4 – 3
10 Quinto 4 – 3
11 Catania 4 – 3
12 Roma 4 – 1
13 Lazio 4 – 1
14 Metanopoli 4 – 0
(UPDATED 21:20 CET)
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