The regular season of the Italian League concluded today with the final six matches. The list of semifinalists for the playoffs is now complete.
Before the 26th round, Trieste and De Akker were tied in points, sharing 4th and 5th place. However, today, Trieste secured a victory against Florentia, while De Akker suffered a loss to Savona. As a result, Trieste maintained its 4th place and joined Brescia, Pro Recco, and Savona in the semifinals.
Montenegrin Vuk Draskovic was a hero of Trieste’s 14:7 win over Florentia in Firenze. Statistically, he made the difference by scoring seven goals. Trieste, the favorite in this match, led 7:2 in the middle of the second quarter. Florentia managed to reduce the gap by the end of the second half, scoring three straight goals (5:7). However, Trieste dominated in a 3:0 third quarter, while it stretched the margin to seven in the final eight minutes.
Trieste’s rival in the semifinals will be Brescia, which secured the top spot in the regular season with a 13:12 win over Pro Recco yesterday. Recco will face Savona in the semifinals (best of three), which will start in seven days .
Trieste and De Akker were tied in points, but Trieste held an advantage due to a better head-to-head record. De Akker could have moved up to fourth place if it had defeated Savona and Trieste had lost to Florentia. However, neither of these conditions occurred, as Savona defeated De Akker in Bologna with a score of 14:10. Savona had nothing to gain or lose, as it was locked in for 3rd place. However, the visitors didn’t enter the match in Bologna without winning ambitions. Savona had a 4:3 lead at the first break. De Akker turned around a deficit to a 5:4 lead in the second period. Daniil Merkulov closed the first half by scoring from 6 on 5 to level the score at 5:5. The big battle continued in the third quarter, but Savona earned a minimal advantage (10:9) before the final quarter. The visitors dominated the final quarter. Savona scored four consecutive goals and jumped to 14:9. Two minutes before the end, the hosts scored a consolation goal. Daniil Merkulov netted four goals for Savona, and Balazs Erdely added three. But, the best scorer of the match was De Akker’s Lucci, with five goals.
De Akker will play in the 5th-8th place playoffs along with Posillipo, Roma Vis Nova and Ortigia. In the semifinals, De Akker will face Ortigia, which beat Posillipo 13:11 today. Cassia and Inaba led the charge, scoring four and three goals respectively for Ortigia.
Roma Vis Nova was defeated in Sicily, as was Posillipo. Telimar beat Roma Vis Nova 11:8.
The 5th-placed and 6th-placed teams will qualify for a new Conference Cup.
Telimar, Catania, Olympic Roma and Florentia will play in the relgation playoffs, while Onda Forte has been relegated to Serie A2.
2024/25 Italian League, Round 26
Florentia – Trieste 7:14 (1:3, 4:4, 0:3, 2:4)
Catania – Olympic Roma 11:16 (2:4, 3:3, 4:5, 2:1)
De Akker – Savona 10:14 (3:4, 2:1, 4:5, 1:4)
Onda Forte – Quinto 14:15 (3:4, 3:5, 3:4, 5:2)
Ortigia – Posillipo 13:11 (2:1, 2:3, 4:3, 5:4)
Telimar – Roma Vis Nova 11:8 (5:4, 2:1, 1:1, 3:2)
Played yesterday: Brescia – Pro Recco 13:12
1. Brescia 26 – 73
2. Pro Recco 26 – 73
3. Savona 26 – 66
4. Trieste 26 – 49
5. De Akker 26 – 46
6. Posillipo 26 – 38
7. Roma Vis Nova 26 – 37
8. Ortigia 26 – 35
9. Quinto 26 – 29
10. Telimar 26 – 28
11. Florentia 26 – 26
12. Olympic Roma 26 – 18
13. Catania 26 – 8
14. Onda Forte 26 – 5
