In the first women´s EFC 2017 matches the Russian Nauka and Latvian Rubene were victorious. You can read the match reports below.

In the first EFC 2017 match, Slovakian Pruske faced the Russian Nauka. During defence, Pruske focused too much on the ball, which led to many dangerous scoring situations as there were unattended Nauka players. All in all, Nauka were more aggressive and skilful, which could be seen during the one vs ones. Nauka won the opening match of the EFC 2017 11-3.

Nauka seemed to be more awake in the first match. They controlled the ball and had more dangerous scoring opportunities. The first goal was seen at 5:35 after Pruske lost the ball. Nauka quickly turned the game and got a break away which #26 Mariia Basargina efficiently used. Pruske made their first goal with four and a half minutes left of the first period. A beautiful volley goal was put in by #78 Renata Resekova. After the first period, the score was 3-1 for Nauka.

At the start of the second period, Pruske got a chance on a power play. Lots of good scoring chances occurred, but unfortunately for Pruske, the closest they got to scoring a goal was the goalpost. Nauka in the other hand were efficient once again. A beautiful tic-tac-toe goal was put in by the Russian national team player #11 Mariia Kitaeva. Only a few minutes later, she again proved to be a dangerous player as she snatched the ball from Pruske and scored a breakaway goal with 7 minutes played of the second period.

The whole third period was full on Nauka domination as they scored one goal after another. In their own end, their goalkeeper #31 Iana Beletskaya who had made marvellous saves throughout the match was the last line of defence. In the end Nauka won the match 11-3.

Best players:
Pruske: #4 Ivana Hrehusova
Nauka: #11 Mariia Kitaeva

In the second match of the day in Valmiera, the Spanish CDE El Valle faced the Latvian Rubene. Rubene were controlling the ball during the match and after the shaky first period were more in the game. Though Valle were quick on their feet, they weren’t able to keep up with the skill level. Rubene won the the match 6-1.

Both teams had an energetic start. The ball was bouncing from one team to the other and both teams were pressuring the other. After a while, the fumbling turned out to be beneficial for Rubene as Valle made a bad pass in their own defensive zone. #9 Edite Bankava took her team to a 1-0 lead with four minutes on the clock. Rubene increased their lead to 2-0 as #58 Evita Rudzite’s beautiful pass from the other side of the rink found #55 Laura Gaugere who scored a one-timer. Valle’s first goal was seen at 16:37 when a powerful shot by #26 Maria Alonso Lopez-Zuazo found the net.

The rest of the match followed the same pattern. The reigning Latvian champions had more ball control even though Valle also had their chances to attack. 50 minutes on the clock, Valle player made a mistake in their own end and Rubene took advance increasing their lead to 5-1. In the end, Rubene won the match 6-1.

Best players:
CDE El Valle #26 Maria Alonso Lopez-Zuazo
Rubene #5 Zeltite Bankava