The Italian Cup finals were played on 15th and 16th of May. It was an important event for the Italian Floorball Federation as it marked the return to the playing fields, more than a year after the last match.
The first round of the Cup took place in the first weekend of May in Rome with the four participating clubs: Floorball Club Milano, Viking Roma, SSV Diamante Bolzano and Black Lions. Team Milano showed its strength in the first matches, winning a tight victory 4-3 against Viking Roma and a clear victory against Black Lions. The match against Diamante ended in a 6-6 tie. Diamante also won their other matches, without problems against Black Lions and a more narrow win against Viking Roma. The Roman team had a clear win against Black Lions , which registered three defeats in this first weekend.
The teams faced each other again over the last weekend in Bolzano, eager to win the first trophy of the season. In the first match on the Saturday Viking Roma had an easy win against Black Lions. In the second match FC Milano won 4-3 against SSV Diamante Bolzano, with Alessandro Capitani scoring the winning goal in power play just six seconds before the end. This result allowed FC Milano to put one hand on the trophy as they only needed to secure one more win. Viking Roma put that on hold as they won 6-2 against Milano in the last match on the Saturday.
On Sunday, the home team Diamante faced no problems in the first match against Black Lions. The Lions also stood no chance against FC Milano, thereby allowing the team from Lombardia to secure the trophy. The last match of the weekend between Diamante and Viking Roma was the battle for the second place and Diamante secured it with a 6-3 win.
It should be noted that the Italian Floorball Association had allowed temporary transfers and FC Milano had chosen to embrace players from many clubs (Sporting Aosta, Real Torino, Ispra, Varese, Spartak Milano, Sterzing Gargazon, Laives and Serenissima) not being able to participate. The FC Milano “Melting pot” gave many single players a chance to come back to the field, which in a way could be seen as a symbol of the Italian floorball movement’s strong will to restart.
Final standings
- FC Milano
- SSV Bozen Diamante
- Viking Roma
- Black Lions
— I hope this first event of the year can mark a restart for the whole movement. My wish for the future is that the rivalries between teams can always remain only on the pitch, but that outside of it we can – as on this occasion – always collaborate, to grow this family of Italian floorball, which deserves to reach new and higher peaks, the President of the Italian Floorball Federation Giorgio Rambaldi concluded.
Source: Italian Floorball Federation
