“Lekrings” ladies win bronze | eDruva

The women’s floorball team “Lekrings” ended the season on a positive note – by winning bronze medals in the Latvian championship. In the game for the third place, the team of Ķekava beat FC “Ķekava” 5:4 in overtime.

The team finished the regular tournament in 4th place, entering the playoffs. In the semifinals, the girls had to recognize the superiority of the current champions, the team “Rubene”, which meant that the girls were waiting for the game for the bronze awards.

The result of the game was opened by FK “Ķekava”, however, player Dārta Malkava equalized, and after the first third, it was 1:1. In the second third, the Raseitseva sisters put the Cēsi team in the lead 4:1 in less than four minutes. First Betty was accurate, then Louise scored two goals. After such a cold shower, the coaches of the opponents took a half-minute break to calm down their players, as well as to slow down the momentum of the players. It gave a result, after half a minute the Ķekava team recovered one goal. A serious test for the Cēsi team was at the end of the second period, when they had to play in threes against five players of FK “Ķekavas” for a minute, but “Lekrings” survived, and after two thirds it was 4:2.

At the beginning of the third period, the Ķekava team reduced the score difference to a minimum, but one and a half minutes before the end of regular time, they tied 4:4. In the remaining time, the result did not change, an extra time followed, in which the girls attacked more. It gave the expected result, because in the ninth minute, Luise Raseitseva caught the ball on her side of the field, went to the opponent’s goal and with an accurate shot scored the winning goal 5:4! The Cēsis team could rejoice, because medals were won in the women’s championship after a 25-year break.

In the beginnings of floorball in Latvia, the Cēsu “Lekrings” women’s team competed in the national championship for several seasons, winning three awards. In the 1995/1996 season, the team won silver, a year later – bronze, and medals of this mintage also in the 1998/1999 season. Then for many years there was no women’s floorball team in Cēsis, until it returned in the 2014/2015 season.

It can be reminded that it was already the second attempt to win medals this season. Cēsniece reached the playoffs in the Latvian-Estonian combined league, where they also lost to “Rubene” in the semi-finals, but in the bronze game they met “NNR/RJTC”, losing 3:5.

The team’s coaches are Andris Rajeckis and Pauls Erenbots. In a conversation with “Druva”, A. Rajeckis says that the final battle of the season was definitely not an easy walk, especially since the fate of the medals was decided in one game: “We started confidently, but in the second half, after gaining a three-goal advantage, we lost our game a little, we conceded easy goals . However, in overtime we controlled the events on the pitch and the winning goal came. It’s hard to say which was on our side – luck or skill – but maybe both.”

When asked if the players thought that everything would be fine after the score of 4:1, the coach says that a three-goal difference in floorball is not a safe advantage, especially in such an important game when equal teams meet.

It had been three weeks since the last semi-final game, such a break without game practice can have some impact. “It was only good for us,” emphasizes the coach. “Because several players had various micro-injuries that could be healed, and we were almost in the optimal composition for this match. We played a friendly match in the last week before the bronze match, so we were well prepared. Maybe it was lucky that in this bronze medal game we faced “Ķekava”, which is a more handy opponent, and the game proved it.”

After returning to the Latvian championship, the women’s team won medals, would this be the first step to stay in the top three?

“First of all, it is important to preserve the core of the team, only then can we think about catching up with the best. Of course, the fact that the medals have been won is an additional incentive for the team to continue, and I hope that the players will have the motivation to return to the team to possibly try to get even higher,” says A. Rajeckis.

The team’s leading scorer this season was Betija Raseitseva, who earned 45 RPS, scoring 26 goals and making 19 assists. Sister Louise has 41 points (27+14), and Jane Eglite has 39 points (15+24).