Three and a half hours after the women’s final’s face-off (and just some 40 minutes after its ceremonies), BCF-Arena in Fribourg hosted the last match of the men’s L-UPL (Lidl Unihockey Prime League) season. Zug United’s excellent season so far was gifted by being part in both Swiss Superfinal matches. Their men’s team faced SV Wiler-Ersigen, which I had featured in my Champions Cup coverage earlier the same season. Both semifinal series had been decided in six matches, with Zug beating GC Zurich and Wiler-Ersigen kicking out FB Thurgau.
This posting comes with a section of 492 major size pictures in the sports galleries.
SV Wiler-Ersigen – Zug United – Match Report
The match was very athletic from the very beginning. However, both teams tried to seize the opponent’s defense and had rather long plays – without having too many scoring chances. Like in the women’s match, it was Zug United who took the momentum in the first period. They scored the first goal of the match after nine minutes. A lovely pass by Sami Johansson just needed the tip-in by Manuel Staub to conclude the first goal of the match. Albin Sjögren gave the pass to the second goal for Zug after 17 minutes. However, he was not that precise. However, Miko Kailala took the rebound from the rink, turned around the defender and sniped the ball passing Yannick Flury for the second time in the match.
Five Goals In The Second Period
After just two goals in the first period, the second one got really dramatic. Michael Dudovic gave a precise pass to Simon Laubscher in the 22nd minute, who was right in perfect scoring position for the first Wiler-Ersigen goal. However, Zug did not struggle for too long and Johansson converted a fast break after 26 minutes, giving back the two goal lead for Zug United. He was also part of Zug’s fourth goal, when he passed the ball to Manuel Staub in the 30th minute, which gave the team a three goal lead.
Wiler-Ersigen did not play bad in this part of the game, but their conversion was just too bad for a superfinal. Apart from the very disciplined Zug defense, it was especially the team’s netminder Nils Schälin, who gave the reigning champion a lot of trouble. However, when Johansson was on the penalty bench, a lovely volley shot by Deny Känzig gave the amazing Wiler-Ersigen fan sector another push. Nonetheless, Zug felt to control the match until the second intermission. They were even awarded with a fifth goal by Robin Nilsberth in the 39th minute. However, Flury should have blocked the ball, which finally trundeled over the goal line.
Wiler-Ersigen With A Lot Of Pressure In The Third Period
SV Wiler-Ersigen had to come back from the three goal deficit in the third period now. And Känzig was the first one to push their faith again. His shot in the 47th minute passed Schälin and also felt doable for the goalie, this time on the other team. When Dudovic closed up the score to 4-5 in the 50th minute, the match felt to be an open battle again. He just barely touched the ball – but he did it in a way that there was no chance for Schälin to react.
The crowd was amazing now. Especially the Wiler-Ersigen fans cheered for any good action, shot attempt or good defense, of their team. However, Zug could ease the situation with a goal in the 56th minute. Kailala and Sjögren played floorball ping-pong in offense – and finally it was the Finnish player who went for the shot in the right moment. Wiler-Ersigen took the immediate reaction and pulled Flury whenever they could. Mario Stocker could have been the unlucky man of the match, when his empty net attempt just hit the left goal post. Instead of a three goal lead, the score quickly went back to a one goal difference, as moments later, Max Vahlgren gave hope to Wiler-Ersigen (58th). His right wing shot made it to the net. Even though there were opportunities to tie the score, Zug United kept that tight lead until the final whistle. Overall, they deserved to become Swiss Champion for the first time in the club’s history.
SV Wiler-Ersigen – Zug United – My View of the Match
After a great ladies’ match, the men’s match in Fribourg was another treat. Both teams went for a tight, physical battle. Wiler-Ersigen played a great third period but paid hard for the burden they especially received in the first period. Zug United converted their second chance to put a Swiss Championship on thei letterheads – a well deserved effort by the team.
SV Wiler-Ersigen – Zug United – Lineups
SV Wiler-Ersigen: 1 Yanick Flury, 89 Mateo Fiechter – 2 Lukas Zaugg, 3 Jamie Martinjas, 4 Michal Dudovic, 6 Arnelio Tambini, 8 Noah Siegenthaler, 9 Radek Sikora, 11 Gianluca Persici, 14 Simon Laubscher, 16 Yannis Wyss, 20 Timo von Arx, 24 Tim Döbeli, 26 Lukas Moser, 36 Jan Ziehli, 44 Marc-Andre Vogt, 71 Jan Bürki, 73 Andrin Hollenstein, 77 Deny Känzig, 79 Max Vahlgren, 81 Philipp Affolter, 94 Marco Louis
Zug United: 62 Nils Schälin, 21 Jari Portmann – 8 Manuel Staub, 9 Tobias Flütsch, 11 Linus Arnold, 12 Tim Mock, 14 Raphael Neidhart, 16 Mario Stocker, 17 Adrian Uhr, 22 Albin Sjögren, 25 Julian Nigg, 36 Fabio Flütsch, 37 Robin Eggimann, 38 Jonas Nigg, 40 Joel Stocker, 48 Jonas Stettler, 57 Noel Knüsel, 71 Andri Flütsch, 77 Sami Johansson, 87 Miko Kailiala, 97 Robin Nilsberth
SV Wiler-Ersigen – Zug United – Gallery
In the sports gallery, there is a designated major size picture gallery with 492 pictures of this match at
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