The semifinals of the Liepāja floorball championship begin with a surprise
The semi-finals of the Liepāja floorball championship began with the failures of both favorites. The teams “EX Legion” and “Dunalka”, which took the first step towards playing in the grand final, took care of the surprise.
Last weekend, the first semi-final matches took place in the Liepāja championship. The winners of the pairs will be determined by two games, so both semi-final matches are equally important. The first duels did not disappoint and brought surprises.
“EX Legion” starts convincingly and achieves its first victory
“Kings of Liepāja” and “EX Legions” opened the semi-final matches on opposite sides of the pitch. At the end of the regular championship Kings lost the first place in the table, however, the second place also automatically ensured a place in the semi-finals, whereas Legions in the quarter-finals they beat “Durbi” not without effort.
At the beginning of the game, the teams played cautiously and patiently, but “EX Legion” gradually gained the offensive initiative, when N. Lazdāns was most accurate. The gate opened “legion” a game that culminated in two more goals in less than seven minutes. After that, “Kings of Liepāja” made a change of goalkeepers, but very soon S.Blinds was also forced to capitulate, ending the first half with an unfavorable 0:4.
In the introduction of the second half G. Anson had the opportunity to further increase the gap, however, luck was on the side of the goalkeeper. Soon after, U. Ezeriņš discovered King the number of goals scored. After the first goal, the Liepaja team continued their pursuit and managed to get closer to 3:5 with seven minutes left in the game. In a hurry to collect the spilled water, “Kings of Liepāja” forgot about the safety of their goal and lost three more goals, losing 3:8. The already mentioned N. Lazdāns stood out among the winners with a “hat-trick”.
“EX Legion” won the first match. A draw in the second leg may be enough for them to enter the final of the championship and fight for the “Vieusulas” trophy.
“Dunalka” shocks the winners of the regular championship
“Priekule/Sērdieņi”, the winner of the main tournament of the Liepāja championship, and “Dunalka”, the winner of the quarter-final, will meet in the second pair of semi-finals, which managed to break the resistance of “FK Kurši FSS” in two intense battles. On paper, the clear favorites of this pair are the cheerleaders.
The first semi-final meeting, however, immediately showed that the status of favorites is really only on paper and “Dunalka” does not plan to give a chance to fight for gold medals. Only a minute after the start of the game, M. Senius allowed the Dunalcs to celebrate. Also in the continuation, they were more skilled in actions with the ball and in the sixth minute they were able to achieve a stable 3-0 lead. At the end of the half, K. Skroderens achieved an already threatening 4:0 lead, but “Priekule/Serdieņi” played back one goal – 1:4.
In the second half, there was intense fighting on the pitch, which resulted in repeated rejections for both teams, but neither one nor the other knew how to use the one-man advantage and the result remained unchanged until the last minute of regular time. Only six seconds before the final siren, “Dunalka” mostly played carelessly and “Priekule/Serdieņi” made it 2:4 with a goal, but the remaining time until the end of the game was too short to change the outcome. Dunalka floorball players recorded their first victory in the semi-finals.
The decisive semi-final battles this Sunday
The two finalists will be determined already this Sunday, when the teams will meet in the second match at the LOC Arena. In order to maintain their hopes of entering the final of the championship, the winners of the first two places of the regular tournament “Priekule/Sērdieņi” and “Liepājas Karaļi” need to win in regular time with any advantage. If one of the teams is able to do it, then a 5-minute extra time until the “golden goal” will be needed to determine the winners of the semi-finals. If the winners are not yet known in overtime, then the ticket to the final will be played in the post-match shootout.
The second games of the semi-final series:
26.04.23, 11.00, “Kings of Liepāja” – EX Legion””
26.04.23, 12.15, “Priekule/Serdieņi” – Dunalka”
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