Polish Gdansk played against Slovakian Pruske in the Women’s EFC final. The battle for the title was even and both teams had dangerous scoring chances throughout the match. Gdansk weren’t able to utilise the powerplays they were given throughout the match and also Pruske’s goalkeeper #31 Pavlina Farulova was confidently snatching balls. The tight match was won by Pruske with the score 2-1. This is the first time that Pruske has won the EFC title.
The battle to raise the cup was even from the start. Both teams were blocking the finalising passes and shots and thus preventing the other team from scoring. There was more action at the end of the first period as Pruske got a two-minute penalty. Only one minute later, a Gdansk player joined the Pruske player on the penalty bench. Pruske were also rewarded a penalty shot in the situation, but they didn’t succeed and the match was continued 4vs4. The score after 20 minutes was still 0-0.
With only few minutes played of the second period, Pruske scored the first goal of the match. Gdansk player defended #4 Ivana Hrehusova from the wrong side and she didn’t hesitate to use this chance to take Pruske to 1-0 lead. The tight battle continued throughout the period and both teams had more scoring chances than during the first period. At the end of the second period, Gdansk were rewarded a powerplay. #44 Weronika Noga blasted a shot from the line and the ball bounced into the net from another Gdansk player. The score was now 1-1.
Gdansk got a powerplay, but the closest they got to a goal was the goalpost. They also had many other close scoring chances, but weren’t able to put the ball in. Pruske’s goalkeeper #31 Pavlina Farulova was also snatching balls assuredly. Halfway to the period Gdansk got another chance at a powerplay, but once again weren’t efficient. Not long after, Pruske got a five-minute power play as their player got a high stick to the face. Hrehusova scored her second goal of the match and took Pruske closer to the win of the final. Even though Gdansk got a powerplay at the end and played 6vs4, they weren’t able to score. Thus Pruske won the EFC 2017 title with their 2-1 win.
Best players:
Gdansk #44 Noga Weronika
Pruske #31 Pavlina Farulova
Norwegian Slevik and Latvian Valmiera were battling for the Men’s EFC title. Valmiera got a good start as Slevik’s defence was asleep. However, Slevik stepped up their game and in the end it was Valmiera who couldn’t keep up. Slevik won the match 8-5 and thus also won the EFC title.
The home crowd was loud as ever when Valmiera scored their first goal at 4:33. Slevik were left confused when Valmiera’s #7 Martins Broks scored his second goal as he was left alone in front of the goal. With four minutes left of the period, Valmiera were already in a 3-0 lead. It seemed that Slevik’s defence couldn’t keep up with the quickly moving Latvian team. With only three seconds left of the period, Slevik were able to decrease the score to 3-1.
Slevik were a whole new team in the second period and this time it was Valmiera who were in trouble. First the Norwegian team decreased the score to 2-3 and halfway through the period the game was already even as #48 Thobias Hjorth easily walked in middle of Valmiera’s defence and was passed the ball. Slevik’s fast and sneaky passes were too much for Valmiera to handle and at the end of the period the score was already 5-3 for Slevik.
In the third period, Slevik continued increasing their lead. With 15 minutes left, the score was already 7-3 as Valmiera’s loose defence allowed Slevik’s #23 Jonas Gustavsen to score. There were few minutes left of the match as Valmiera took the goalkeeper out. At 17:43 the Latvian spectators got something to celebrate as Valmiera decreased the score to 4-7. Soon after, Valmiera’s #11 Arnijs Kuratniks gives a sneaky pass to #16 Aigars Belasovs and now Valmiera are only two goals behind. But their hopes are crushed as Slevik’s captain #24 Thomas Straete takes off with the ball and Hjorth scores Slevik’s eighth goal. Slevik won the match 8-5 and are the EFC winners.
Best players:
Slevik #10 Ryan Hallden Ryan
Valmiera #7 Martins Broks Martins
