For the first time in history, Ortigia will play in the final of the Italian Cup.
The Sicilians beat one of the favorites, Brescia, 7:6 in today’s semifinals in Genoa and achieved their most significant success in the Coppa Italia.
Tomorrow, Ortigia will face Pro Recco in the final. Recco made no mistake. It defeated Savona 12:6 in the semis.
Pro Recco will play for its 10th consecutive trophy in the Italian Cup. Recco beat Brescia in the previous seven finals. Ortigia ended that “monotony” with today’s quite surprising victory.
2022/23 Italian Cup, Final Eight, Genoa
Brescia – Ortigia 6:7 (2:3, 0:1 2:2, 2:1)
Brescia: Alesiani 2, Luongo 2, E.Di Somma 2.
Ortigia: Ferrero 3, Velkic 2, Gorria 1, F.Condemi 1
The key to Brescia’s victories in most matches this season was excellent defensive play. This evening, the Sicilians secured a spot in the semifinals with Brescia’s primary weapon. Ortigia’s defense, with 44-year-old goalkeeper Stefano Tempesti, was perfect in the middle two quarters.
Brescia got off to a very good start in the match and earned a 2:0 lead in the 4th minute. But, after that, Ortigia kept Brescia goalless for more than 19 minutes! The Sicilians scored three goals by the end of the first quarter and went ahead. Ortigia’s youngster Filippo Ferrero was the only one who found the net in the second period, so the Sicilians led 4:2 at halftime.
The Sicilians’ center-forward Petar Velkic opened the second half with an action goal to make it 5:2. Shortly after, Ortigia had a penalty shot, but Ferrero hit the post. Shortly after that penalty, Brescia’s players got into new trouble. Vincenzo Renzuto Iodice was red-carded due to a violent play on Ortigia’s goalkeeper Stefano Tempesti. Francesco Condemi converted a man-up after that exclusion, and the Sicilians went to 6:2. Edoardo Di Somma ended Brescia’s long goalless phase with two goals in the last 33 seconds of the quarter. His team was back in the game – 4:6.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Brescia cut the deficit to one (Luongo for 5:6), and the drama continued. Still, Brescia couldn’t equalize. Filippo Ferrero added his third goal four minutes from the end to double the Sicilians’ advantage (7:5). Alesiani scored for 6:7 with 63 seconds to go. It turned out that it was the final score. Brescia had a chance to equalize in the dying seconds, but Stefano Tempesti, who was outstanding this evening, saved a shot from Luongo.
Pro Recco – Savona 12:6 (4:1, 4:1, 2:3, 2:1)
Pro Recco: Zalanki 3, Fondelli 2, Echenique 2, Iocchi Gratta 2, Hallock 2, N.Presciutti 1,
Savona: Patchaliev 4, Djurdjic 1, Lanzoni 1.
Savona continued its losing streak in the matches against Pro Recco. Savona hasn’t beaten Recco since an 11:10 victory in the 2nd match of the final of the 2011 Italian League. Since then, most of the games have been one-sided contests.
The duel in Genoa was one of these in which Recco dominated. The European champion had an 8:1 lead in the 15th minute. Therefore, the second half was just a formality.
Semifinals, 5th – 8th place
Trieste – Posillipo 11:9 (4:1, 2:3, 2:2, 3:3)
Trieste:Bini 3, Buljubasic 2, Mezzarobba 2, Inaba 2, Vrlic 1, Valentino 1.
Posillipo: Somma 3, Stevenson 1, Mattiello 1, Picca 1, J.Lanfranco 1, Milicic 1, Briganti 1.
Telimar – Quinto 11:13 (3:1, 1:2, 3:2, 1:3, PSO 3:5)
Telimar: Hooper 3 (1 in PSO), Del Basso 2, Vitale 2, Occhione 2 (1), Irving 2 (1).
Iren Genova Quinto: Molina 3 (1), Nora 3 (1), N.Gambacciani 2 (1), Ravina 2 (1), Fracas 1, J.Gambacciani 1, Mijuskovic 1 (1).
Trieste and Iren Quinto Genova will play in the 5th-place match. Trieste was better than Posillipo, while host Quinto defeated Telimar in a penalty shootout.
