Two duels between the teams that play in the LEN cups were on the program of the 8th round of the Italian League.
However, neither of the games offered a thrilling ending. Everything was decided before the final quarter. The Champions League clubs were much better than the teams that play in the LEN Euro Cup. Pro Recco defeated Ortigia by six goals (14:8). Brescia blew Savona away (17:5).
The duels between the teams from the lower half of the table were interesting and exciting.
2022/23 Italian League, Day 8
Pro Recco – Ortigia 14:8 (3:2, 5:1, 3:3, 3:2)
Pro Recco: Figlioli 4, Younger 3, Zalanki 3, Di Fulvio 1, Rossi 1, Echenique 1, Velotto 1.
Ortigia: Vidovic 4, F.Condemi 2, Napolitano 1, S.Rossi 1.
Brescia – Savona 17:5 (3:2, 5:0, 6:1, 3:2)
Brescia: C.Presciutti 4,Gitto 3, Lazic 2, Vapenski 2, Alesiani 2, Gianazza 1, Kharkov 1, S.Luongo 1, E.Di Somma 1.
Savona: Campopiano 2, Rizzo 1, Caldieri 1, Guidi 1.
Catania-Telimar 11:14 (3:3, 1:4, 3:5, 4:2)
Catania: E. Russo 4, La Rosa 2, G. Torrisi 2, Camilleri 1, R. Torrisi 1, Privitera 1.
Telimar: Occhione 6, Irving 3, Giorgetti 3, Hooper 2.
Trieste – Bogliasco 20:6 (5:2, 6:1, 3:1, 6:2)
Trieste: Razzi 4, Inaba 4, Mezzarobba 3, Mladossich 4, Bego 2, Podgornik 2, Valentino 1.
Bogliasco: Guidaldi 2, Puccio 2, Blanchard 1, Brambilla Di Civesio 1.
Salerno – Posillipo 8:7 (2:2, 3:3, 1:2, 2:0)
Salerno: M.Luongo 3, Parrilli 2, Barroso 2, Gallozzi 1.
Posillipo: Abramson 2, A. Somma 2, Saccoia 2, Briganti 1.
Roma – Anzio 12:11 (3:2, 3:3, 4:1, 2:5)
Roma: Tartaro 3, Viskovic 3, Mirarchi 2, F. Faraglia 2, Neumann 1 , Lucci 1.
Anzio Waterpolis: Cuccovillo 3, Koprcina 3, D.Presciutti 1, Lapenna 1, Bajic 1, Caponero 1, Goreta 1.
Quinto – De Akker 7:6 (2:1, 1:2, 1:2, 3:1)
Iren Genova Quinto: Mijuskovic 2, N.Gambacciani 1, Molina 1, Ravina 1, Figari 1, J.Gambacciani 1.
De Akker: Milakovic 3, Guerrato 1, Manzi 1, Cocchi 1.
The big match of the day, Pro Recco – Ortigia, lacked excitement. Pro Recco dominated. Already in the middle of the third quarter, it was clear that the hosts would win. After a 3:2 first quarter, Gergo Zalanki converted a man-up for 4:2. Napolitano halved the distance, but Recco replied with three goals and earned a nice 8:3 advantage before the middle break. The eighth goal for Recco was scored by experienced leftie Gonzalo Echenique, who returned to the team after a long absence due to injury and surgery. Recco added two unanswered goals in the third quarter, went to 10:3 and everything was decided.
There was no suspense in the other big derby, Brescia – Savona. Both teams have achieved good results in the domestic and European competitions in the last several weeks. Brescia kept the momentum, while Savona disappointed its fans. The visitors kept with Brescia only in the first quarter. Savona took a 1:0 lead. Brescia replied with two and went in front. Savona leveled at 2:2. Two seconds before the first break, Boris Vapenski converted a man-up and opened Brescia’s 7:0 series. After a 5:0 second period, Brescia’s captain Christian Presciutti found the net in the first possession in the third quarter and the hosts earned a huge 9:2 lead. The visitors couldn’t recover from that shock, while Brescia played excellently until the end. Twelve goals separated the rivals after the last buzzer (17:5).
Telimar defeated Catania in the Sicilian derby. The Palermo-based side was the favorite and secured the victory in the middle two quarters. After the first eight minutes, the sides were tied at 3:3. Telimar was 7:4 up at halftime. At the beginning of the fourth period, Davide Occhione, the man of the match, scored his fifth of today’s six goals and stretched the margin to four (8:4). Catania halved the deficit with two quick goals (6:8). But, Telimar produced a 4:0 run and jumped to a safe 12:6 lead (23rd minute). Telimar caught up with Savona and Ortigia and moved to 5th place.
A very exciting game was played in Salerno, where the hosts edged out Posillipo.. There were a lot of twists and turns throughout the game. Posillipo entered the final quarter with a 7:6 advantage, thanks to a power play goal from Tyler Abramson in the 24th minute. Still, the visitors didn’t keep the advantage. Salerno’s Parrilli was the only one who found the net in the final quarter. He did it twice within 40 seconds. In the 27th minute, he scored the last goal in the match for the final score – 8:7.
The clash between Iren Qunto and De Akker was very exciting, too. The visitors from Bologna had a 5:4 advantage after 24 minutes of play. Iren opened the final period with two goals and went ahead – 6:5. De Akker leveled at 6:6. Veteran Guillermo Molina gave Quinto a 7:6 lead in the 30th minute. That was followed by two minutes of a hard battle, but Quinto saved a minimal advantage and three points.
Roma defeated Anzio 12:11. The capital-based team had a solid 10:6 advantage before the final quarter. However, the game was open until the very end. Early in the fourth, Anzio halved the deficit (8:10). Tartaro scored for 11:8. Still, the battle wasn’t over yet. Anzio came very close to the hosts in the 29th minute (10:11). A minute and a half before the end, Viskovic made it 12:10. Anzio’s 11th goal came too late, just 15 seconds before the end.
1 Pro Recco 8 – 24
2 Brescia 8 – 21
3 Trieste 8 – 18
4 Ortigia 8 – 18
5 Telimar 8 – 18
6 Savona 8 – 18
7 Quinto 8 – 12
8 Anzio 8 – 8
9 Salerno 8 – 7
10 Roma 8 – 6
11 De Akker 8 – 4
12 Catania 8 – 4
13 Bogliasco 8 – 4
14 Posillipo 8 – 3
