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Swedish Floorball Finals (Women) – Thorengruppen IBK – Pixbo IBK 6-3 (2-0, 0-1, 4-2)

Florian Buechting Sports Reports No Comments

World record attendance matches in late April 2024. The Swedish Floorball Federation invited to nothing but that in order to determine the Swedish Champions 2024. Friends Arena in Solna, which you might rather know as the country’s national soccer temple, hosted this event due to renovation works at Avicii Arena. The floorball field was put into the stadium in front of one of the short stands, leading to a capacity of some 20,000 people. The first match on 27th April 2024 was the women’s final.

When you look at the match-up, it somehow felt as “business as usual”. The dominating Thorengruppen IBK headed their “eternal challenger” Pixbo IBK. However, especially Pixbo had a tough time with Rönnby in the semifinals, beating the Västeras team by one goal in the final decider of the series. Thorengruppen had a series of four matches against Täby FC, two of them being decided by sudden-death overtime. The regular season leader was definitely in the slightly favorable position, but do-or-die matches may always run into different kind of stories. I felt gifted to be back at Swedish floorball.

This posting comes with a section of 396 major size pictures in the sports galleries. 

 

Thorengruppen IBK – Pixbo IBK – Match Report

The attendance in the arena was given with 15,794 people. However, also due to the character venue, the women’s Superfinal in Switzerland the weekend before felt a bit more packed. Nonetheless, both teams came with large blocks of support, which lead to a very enjoyable atmosphere from the very beginning. The teams started rather tactical and there were rather few shots on both sides initially. However, Thorengruppen’s  Cajsa Alm broke this kind of silence in the eighth minute. In American Football, you would likely call the goal a “running play”. It was amazing how the Umea team broke through the wing and made it to a perfect snipe position in the slot in that situation. The goal definitely boosted the green-dressed team, who controlled the match in the following minutes.

Right when Pixbo started to be a bit more agile, Veera Kauppi broke their heart in the 18th minute. Swiss national goalie Lara Heini wanted to initiate a fast break, but Thorengruppen was quicker and blocked the throw, which finally lead to a nice play by Maja Viström, who gave the Finnish female floorball legend a great position. No chance for Heini to block that shot from short distance. Even though the shot statistics of the first twenty minutes was rather close, it felt like the Northern Swedish team were more concentrated in defense and more straight in offence.

 

Pixbo Closing Up In The Second Period

You felt that Pixbo pushed for the comeback in the second period. Thereby, they were also unlucky. Just after playing a few minutes, for example, Klara Loneberg just hit the crossbar. There were more scoring opportunities, especially in the middle of the period. However, both goalies felt well enough to prevent goals. Thorengruppen has also been great in blocking opportunities and preventing significantly more shots.

Nonetheless, it was finally a defensive mistake, which lead to the first goal for the Gothenburg ladies. After a completely failed hit in by Thorengruppen in their own defense, Ellen Lundin reacted the quickest in the 34th minute. Czech Eliska Krupnova came finally in an almost paradisial position to make her team hope for better again. Fun fact: the hit in was due to the fact that Krupnova had absolutely failed right before being in front on goalkeeper Lovisa Hedin without any defensive interference. Thorengruppen tried to push for the third goal in the last minutes of the period, but the match was at its best now. Finally, the score stayed at 2-1 at the second intermission.

 

Six Goals In The Third Period

After the first two periods were dominated by defensive strategies, the last twenty minutes of the match were a treat for the offensive lines. Emilie Wibron was the first player in that shift who put her name in the scoresheet. Just after 58 second, the scored from a right wing position. Two and a half minutes later, the fourth Thorengruppen goal reminded a bit of their second one. Again, an Umea forward could position right in front of the goal without any defensive marking. This time, the goal was scored by Maja Viström, however.

Pixbo tried to get back in the game, but time was running more and more. Thus, with eight minutes left on the clock, they pulled Lara Heini the first time in favor of a sixth field player. This increased the pressure significantly. While Thorengruppen blocked a lot of shots, Krupnova found the right spot in the 55th minute and closed to 4-2. When Emma Stenberg even scored the third goal for the West Swedish team, there was realistic hope again among the Pixbo fans. They wanted to keep up the pressure on Hedin’s goal – which of course came with a risk. Finally, this lead to two empty-net goals, both by Cajsa Alm (58th, 60th minute). Especially after the first of these goals, there were quite significant protests about the turnover which lead to the score. Thus, the match finally ended with 6-3.

 

Thorengruppen IBK – Pixbo IBK – My View of the Match

Pixbo paid hard for being less effective than the Northern Swedish favorites. Especially in the second period, they had some good plays which could have lead to tying the score. Even though the six man advantage at the end of the match lead to some dramatic moments and hopes, Thorengruppen was finally the deserved winner of this match.

Thorengruppen IBK – Pixbo IBK – Lineups

Thorengruppen IBK: 86 Lovisa Hedin, 1 Stina Callerfjord – 2 Nora Hedlund, 4 Juni Söderqvist, 5 Mathilda Ekenlinde, 7 Ebba Törngren, 9 Anna Skyltbäck, 11 Maja Viström, 16 Jonna Stenvall, 20 Nellie Öhgren, 21 Nora Parkle, 24 Wilma Selin, 25 Moa Johansson, 26 Emelie Wibron, 27 Oona Kauppi, 28 Veera Kauppi, 29 Cajsa Alm, 39 Sofia Joelsson, 80 My Kippilä, 89 Sandra Hawerman

Pixbo IBK: 94 Lara Heini, 1 Linnea Wall – 2 Rikke Ingebrigtsli Hansen, 3 Moa Andersson, 4 Emma Heander, 5 Eliska Krupnova, 7 Alicia Svensson, 8 Cajsa Elm, 9 Anna Dömstedt, 14 Klara Loneberg, 15 Axina Pettersson, 17 Emma Stenberg, 19 Ella Zetterstedt, 20 Ida Eliasson, 25 Thea Löfborg, 27 Alma Kilpeläinen, 29 Caroline Adelöw, 44 Amanda Berggren, 88 Ellen Lundin.

 

Thorengruppen IBK – Pixbo IBK – Gallery

In the sports gallery, there is a designated major size picture gallery with 396 pictures of this match at

 

SM-Final 2024 – Women’s Match

Here is my match report of the men’s match:

Swedish Floorball Finals (Men) – Storvreta IBK – Pixbo IBK 8-5 (3-1, 1-1, 4-3)

 

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