Pro Recco won its 16th Italian Cup, beating its arch-rival Brescia in the final of the 30th edition of the competition.
The European champion defeated the Italian champion narrowly (8:7) in the final in Genoa. It claimed its 9th Italian Cup in a row.
Pro Recco and Brescia have been regular participants of the final match since 2014, and almost each of the gold medal matches was very exciting. Last year, Pro Recco edged out Brescia 11:10 in the final in Palermo.
Savona defeated Telimar 10:9 in the bronze-medal match.
Italian Cup, Final Eight, Genoa, Day 3
Final
Brescia – Pro Recco 7:8 (1:1, 2:3, 0:2, 4:2)
Brescia: Dolce 2, Lazic 2, C.Presciutti 1, Constantin Bicari 1, E. Di Somma 1.
Pro Recco: Zalanki 3, Di Fulvio 2, Younger 2, Hallock 1.
The finalists started very carefully in defense in the opening minutes. Aaron Younger scored the first goal in the match in the fourth minute. Two minutes later, Djordje Lazic equalized.
Nicholas Constantin Presciutti gave Brescia a 2:1 lead. Pro Recco responded strongly – Ben Hallock leveled at 2:2. Francesco Di Fulvio continued Recco’s series with two goals – and the European champion earned a 4:2 lead (13th minute). Di Fulvio’s second goal was the first action goal in the match. The previous five were power-play goals. Brescia’s Edoardo Di Somma closed (3:4).
In the third period, Recco stretched the margin to three (Younger and Zalanki) -6:3. Gergo Zalanki opened the fourth quarter by converting a penalty shot and Recco jumped to 7:3.
But Brescia didn’t say its last word. The Italian champion produced a 3:0 run in less than two minutes (Vincenzo Dolce scored two, Nicholas Prescutti one goal). It reduced the gap to 6:7 with 04:16 minutes remaining on the clock. But shortly after, Zalanki doubled Recco’s advantage – 8:6. In the next Brescia’s possession, Aleksandar Ivovic committed a penalty foul. The European champion lost its captain (that was his third personal foul), but goalkeeper Marco Del Lungo raised Recco’s self-confidence. He blocked Dolce’s shot from the 5m line. Djordje Lazic made it 7:8 with 90 seconds to go, but it turned out that was the last goal in the match. Brescia had a man-up in its last possession, but it didn’t finish the attack – it lost the ball. Recco kept the minimal advantage in the remaining time.
Recco scored five goals with a man-up advantage (5/14), one from a penalty and two from 6 on 6 attacks. Brescia netted only one action goal and six in extra-man attacks (6/16).
The Italian Cup is the second trophy in the season for the team coached by 2017 Total Player Sandro Sukno. In December, Pro Recco won the LEN Super Cup.
3rd-place match
Telimar – Savona 9:10 (2:2, 2:3, 3:4, 2:1)
Telimar: Basic 3, Marziali 2, Irving 2, Occhione 1, Vlahovic 1.
Savona: Molina 2, Rizzo 2, Bruni 2, Fondelli 2, Iocchi Gratta 1, Campopiano 1.
Savona was almost always in front Telimar in the bronze-medal match. Savona opened the match with two goals. Telimar leveled at 2:2. In the next three quarters, Savona built a 3-goal lead three times (5:2, 7:4, 10:7). Telimar scored the last two goals in the match. Occhione made it 9:10 in the 31st minute, but the Sicilians didn’t go further.
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
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