There were no surprises in the final of the 31st “Coppa Italia”.
Pro Recco won its 17th and 10th consecutive Italian Cup, beating Ortigia 12:8 in the final of the Final Eight finished in Genoa today.
The Sicilian club, which debuted in the Italian Cup final, played very well and proved that it hadn’t come there by chance. Ortigia lost, but it deserves to be praised for what it showed in the final. Pro Recco had to fire on all the cylinders to beat the Sicilians.
Brescia won the bronze medal ahead of Savona, Trieste, Quinto, Posillipo and Telimar.
2023 Italian Cup, Final Eight, Genoa
Final
Pro Recco – Ortigia 12:8 (3:1, 3:2, 2:4, 4:1)
Pro Recco: Del Lungo, Di Fulvio 1, Zalanki 1, Cannella, Younger 3, Fondelli, N.Presciutti, Echenique 1, Ivovic 1, Iocchi Gratta 1, Aicardi 4, Hallock, Negri. Head coach: Sukno.
Ortigia: Tempesti, Cassia 3, Giribaldi, A.Condemi, Di Luciano 1, Velkic, Ferrero 2, Gorria, F. Condemi 1, Rossi, Vidovic 1, Napolitano, Ruggiero. Head coach: Piccardo.
Pro Recco scored already in its first possession after Matteo Aicardi netted the first of his four today’s goals. Di Luciano leveled at 1:1. Pro Recco built a 3:1 lead by the end of the first period. From that point on, Recco was always in front, but Ortigia persistently chased the favorite and managed to come very close a few times.
Filipo Ferrero opened the second period with a goal from a penalty shot for 2:3. Recco responded with a 3:0 run for a 6:2 lead, but Ortigia didn’t surrender. At halftime, it trailed by three goals (3:6). Recco maintained a 3-goal lead until 8:5. Cassia netted two goals at the finish of the third period, and the Sicilians cut the deficit to one (7:8). After Ortigia’s seventh goal, Recco’s head coach switched goalkeepers. Negri replaced Del Lungo. That proved a good move, which consolidated Recco’s defense.
After the last break, Recco dominated. Ivovic and Echenique gave the European champion a 10:7 lead. Three minutes before the end, Ferrero converted a penalty shot for 8:10, but Recco closed the match with two power-play goals (Di Fulvio and Younger) for a 12:8 win and the 10th Italian Cup in a row.
Bronze medal match
Savona – Brescia 8:14 (1:1, 2:5, 3:5, 2:3)
Savona: Panerai 2, Rocchi 1, Patchaliev 1, Bruni 1, Campopiano 1, Guidi 1, Lanzoni 1-
Brescia: Renzuto Iodice 3, Luongo 3, Di Somma 3, C.Presciutti 2, Dolce 1, Kharkov 1, Alesiani 1
Brescia arrived in Genoa to play in the final and battle for the trophy. But Ortigia stopped them in yesterday’s semis. Still, Brescia saved enough energy and motivation for the consolation final and won bronze.
The first quarter gave some hope to Savona. Moreover, until the middle of the second quarter, the teams were in a neck-and-neck race. In the 13th minute, the score was 3:3. Still, Brescia showed its power in the following minutes by scoring five consecutive goals to go to 8:3 (18th minute). Savona reduced the gap to three (5:8). But, Brescia had a firm control and rebuilt a 5-goal lead by the end of the third quarter (11:5). Di Somma converted two man-up attacks at the beginning of the fourth for 13:5 and sealed Brescia’s victory.
5th-place match
Trieste – Quinto 10:5 (5:2 1:2, 1:0, 3:1)
Trieste: Inaba 4, Valentino 2, M.Vrlic 1, Mezzarobba 1, Razzi 1, Mladossich 1.
Iren Quinto Genova: N.Gambacciani 1, Molina 1, Ravina 1, Figari 1, Gitto 1.
7th-place match
Posillipo – Telimar 12:8 (1:0, 3:3, 4:2, 4:3)
Posillipo:Mattiello 4, Stevenson 2, Somma 2, Briganti 2, Saccoia 2.
Telimar: Hooper 3, Del Basso 2, Gilberti 1, Lo Cascio 1, Occhione 1.
All winners
1970: Canottieri Napoli
1971 – 73: not held
1974: Pro Recco
1975: not held
1976: RN Florentia
1977 -84: not held
1985 and 1986: Pescara
1987: CN Posillipo
1988: RN Arenzano
1989: Pescara
1990 and 1991: Savona
1992: Pescara
1993: RN Savona
1994 – 97: not held
1998: Pescara
1999 – 2004: not held
2005: Bissolati Cremona
2006 – 2011 (6 trophies): Pro Recco
2012 Brescia
2013-2019 (7 trophies): Pro Recco
2020: season canceled
2021: Pro Recco
2022: Pro Recco
2023: Pro Recco
