“Lielvārde/FatPipe” – “FBK Valmiera/Betsafe” (at 19:00 in Lielvārde and TV4)
Last year, Valmierians were considered one of the main favorites, confirming their status both in the regular season, where they became the team with the most points with 48 points, and also in the playoffs, where the minimum number of games was enough to reach the finals. On the other hand, “Lielvārde/FatPipe” alone secured a place in the elimination tournament a few rounds before the end of the regular season, the play-off battles starting from the seventh position. The team played perfectly there, first playing the second best team of the regular tournament from Cēsis in seven games, then in the semi-finals they defeated the third-placed Ulbrokians, but in the final they also upset the Valmierians with 5:4 in extra time, becoming the three-time Latvian champions.
Compared to the previous season, the biggest missing member of the “Lielvārde/FatPipe” team is the goalkeeper Jānis Salcevičs, who did not play practically in the regular season last year, but the bright performance in the elimination tournament allowed the long-time goalkeeper of the Latvian national team to be crowned not only the champion, but also to win the best goalkeeper award. A similar story is also about the experienced Aivi Kusiņas, who returned to the circuit only at the end of the regular season, but was one of the key players in the elimination tournament. The team has no shortage of leading floorball players. The missing lines are mostly filled with local floorball players from the 1st league, but undoubtedly the most interesting addition is the return of Sandra Virsnīš, who has not played since the spring of 2020, when the team was one win away from reaching the semi-finals when the championship was interrupted by Covid-19 .
Lauris Alvis Stiprais and Artūrs Bračka have returned to the ranks of the Valmiera team, who tried their hand at the German Bundesliga last year. The transfer has also been completed for Kriš Lužinskis, but the third “German” does not currently appear in the team’s application. After missing a couple of seasons, Edvards Voldemars Kažmers has returned to the circuit. Meanwhile, among the biggest losses is the departure of the productive Kevin Schmidt to Ulbrock, but the Russian legionnaire Pavel Semyonov, who was not so productive in recent seasons, is also out of the application. The change of coaches should also be highlighted, because Ingus Laivinas failed to lead the team to the coveted throne and Aigars Belasovs will once again perform the duties of the head coach in his place.
“Bauska” – “FBK STARTS” (at 19:00 in Bauska)
If the two best teams of last season will meet in Lielvārde, then in Bauska two of the three teams that did not make it to the knockout tournament last year and that have never played in it or for a very long time will meet in Bauska. It can be said once again about Bauškėnai that the team has become a year more experienced and, looking at the application, it can be concluded that, playing in the best possible composition, Bauškėnai could be an uncomfortable opponent for more than one competitor. The team still includes the experienced Pēteris Zeltiņš and Jānis Akmentiņš, as well as Lotārs Melderis and Tomas Jurgensons, who were once members of the junior national team. Evers Janušausksis, who had already managed to prove himself as the new leader of Bauškėnai until he accepted new challenges, also returned home to Cēsis after a not very successful experience.
The same can be said about the Ādaži team, whose average age has always been one of the youngest in the championship. The leader Alvis Dāle has returned to the team from his loan, and captain Dēvids Osītis will continue to try on the team shirt, who already tonight can continue the great series of games with 14 scored goals. On the other hand, Osītis has not left the field without at least one productive point for 16 games in a row. After spending a couple of seasons in the Danish Super League, goalkeeper Emil Sieverts has returned home, who will become a good replacement for the previous leader Karl Pop, who had a great last season, but last year’s performance was not so convincing.
Last year, Bauškėnai won both matches, winning 7:6 at home, but they won 8:7 away from home, although they were close to missing out on a four-goal advantage.
2023-09-09 06:46:27
#floorball #season #starts #traditional #repetition #final
