Just some sixth month I had a match between the Red Ants Rychenberg and UHC Laupen in the Women NLA category, the same two clubs met on 7th April 2019 in the Swiss Playoff Finals in the Under 21A Girls category. Laupen hosted the third match of the best-of-five series. They won both regular season matches in the regular season as well as game 1 and 2 of the series. Thus, they already had the first match ball / championship ball on their very own ground. The Red Ants again had Blanka Benyo, the Hungarian national team player, in their lineup. I saw the red Ants for the second time that season, after their home match vs. WaSa in October.
There is a designated major size picture gallery for this report.
Laupen vs. Red Ants U21A – Match Report
The first goal happened already after 55 seconds. Sina Krausz gave the lead to the Red Ants after a right wing attack. Now there seemed to be initial hope to get back into this playoff series for the guests. When Seraina Brunner was sent to the bench after four minutes committing a silly tackle, this felt to be the chance for the guest to set an early sign to their opponents. However, the Red Ants failed completely. The game did not feel like a Red Ants power-play at all, as Laupen could control the ball very often. Thus, not too surprisingly, they even scored their first goal in the sixth minute short-handed. Laupen now more and more took control of the match. However, both defensive lines did a good job, so that there were few chances.
Celine Stäubli made the amazing 400 spectator crowd cheer even louder, when her shot in the 15th minute passed Ronya Schmid. The goal was a terrible mistake by the defense and the goalie, as it was scored by a rebound after a direct shot from the center line. Quite a tough moment and way to start trailing for the Red Ants. Though the hosts felt very safe and relaxed during this time of the match, they could not score any more until the first intermission.
Laupen turns advantage into score in the second period
While Laupen looked better in the first half, they simply did better int he second. Gentiana Beluhli raised the score after just 65 seconds in the second period. 28 seconds later, Michelle Schaffer even raised to 4-1. The Red Ants disaster continued. Being short-handed after a silly check into the rink by Esther Jeyabalasingam, the guests substituted during a Laupen free hit. They messed the safe situation completely, so that five host players just faced three Ants. Beluhi aimed to Hofmann, who was just meters away from the goal with no defender around – a too early Easter gift in this canton Zurich battle.
If one really believed in a Red Ants comeback, Lisa Gehrig denied this Winterthur dream and scored Laupen’s goal number 6 after 29 minutes. The match just kept on rolling for the hosts, who already started the floorball trophy party in the Zurich canton hills.
Better Ants in the third period – but Laupen does it easily
The Red Ants did better in the third period, showed better passing and more powerful attacks. On the other hand, their offensive effectivity was comparably worse than their defensive one. On the one hand, they wasted a couple of chances, on the other hand, they could not prevent Laupen’s seventh goal in the 43rd minute, which also lead to a Red Ants goalie substitution. Even two power-play situations in the second part of the period could not lead to a more pleasing finish of the match for the guests. The hosts were already partying minutes before the final siren of their season – well deserved, as you simply could not imagine that this match-up on that day could lead to any kind of thrill any more.
Laupen vs. Red Ants U21A – My View of the Match
No need for just a tiny little bit of discussion – after that match, Laupen deserved to win this match and the Under 21 Girls championship. There was a gap between these teams. Laupen felt to be superior in almost any category. Just on the physical side, the Red Ants girls felt to be a bit more mature – but they could not take any advantage of that in the match.
I again felt that the level of this match was too low, though. I don’t want to talk bad about Laupen’s performance at all, but in both teams (the guests of course even more), passes tended to be slow and imprecise. The Red Ants struggled to handle some situations from a tactical side as well. The Under 21A League is the top division to prepare for the Nationalliga A and Junior National Team. Switzerland needs to invest in their girls to stay competetive. Laupen felt to have done much better in that the last years compared to the Red Ants, Piranha Chur or the Jets. Nice to see that after some minutes of disappointment, the Red Ants celebrated their silver medal – Laupen was just too strong for them this season.
Laupen vs. Red Ants U21A – Lineups
UHC Laupen: 11 Leana Schoch, 96 Corinna Bluzet – 4 Jara Honegger, 7 Celine Stäubli, 8 Anouk Jonker, 13 Lisa Gehrig, 14 Chiara Bertini, 16 Marina Zimmermann, 17 Yara Hofmann, 19 Andrea Wildermuth, 21 Lisa Hediger, 22 Lisa Moser, 23 Seraina-Ursina Brunner, 26 Lucretia Debrunner, 33 Alina Hofmann, 36 Michelle Schaffer, 42 Lena Nussbauer, 86 Gentiana Behluli, 98 Sabrina Aerne
Red Ants Rychenberg Winterthur: 99 Ronja Schmid, 77 Sandra Lehner – 2 Sophie Kunz, 4 Jessica Smeds, 5 Esther Jeyabalasingam, 8 Brigitte Buchi, 9 Blanka Benyo, 10 Simona Brunner, 13 Dominique Schnetzer, 21 Anna Habarsatter, 22 Larissa Schindler, 25 Sina Krausz, 29 Seraina Zeller, 37 Linn Larsson, 55 Regina Büchi, 58 Annina Russenberger, 69 Melea Brunner, 71 Laura Jung, 72 Malin Larsson, 84 Vanessa Schmucki, 88 Salome Schneider
Laupen vs. Red Ants U21A – Gallery
There is a designated gallery with 421 pictures for this match:
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