After the dramatic semifinal between Sweden and Switzerland, 1,700 spectators in Lahti waited for their team battling Czechia for the spot in the final. Czechia had won their group and especially showed a great round-robin match against the Swiss. Thus, this match (which was nominally the first semifinal, but played second) was definitely not thought to become an easy cruise for the Finnish National Team.
This posting comes with a section of 188 major size pictures in the WFC U19 Girls section of the sports galleries.
Czechia – Finland – Match Facts
As expected, Czechia proofed being the unpleasant opponent for Finland. The match was a typical top class floorball one, where both teams tried to seize the opposite defense. Especially Finland, who just had eight shots on goal in the whole match, had that strategy in the playbook. Vice versa, Tomas Martinak’s team managed to find the scoring spots better than the hosts, but struggled with the excellent goalie Julia Saarinen, who became Finland’s player of the match. A key factor was the Czech lead in the eleventh minute, when Andrea Breska’s pass made it to Lucie Baldreichova in excellent free shot position. Only a few key situations decided the match. One of them was a bench penalty called against Baldreichova with 22 second left in the first period. The free hit was converted by Elsa Holopainen, who tied the score right before the first intermission.
The second period was a defensive battle with a total of just seven shots in total. Czechia felt to be close negating the Scandinavian dream of the Finland vs. Sweden “traditional” final match-up. However, Elsa Holopainen stole a pass attempt by Veronika Machalkova in the 50th minute, giving her a free shot position just meters away from Eliska Svrckova, who had no chance blocking the shot. Business as usual? Czechia did not struggle with the situation and Linda Fuchsova brought her team back into the game scoring in the 53rd minute. The match had to go to overtime. Czechia struggled with a free hit decision by the Swedish referees after 51 seconds. A simple pass to the right back position by Misa Turunen gave Milla Granlund the opportunity to snipe. When the ball hit the Czech net, the crowd was ecstatic.Similar to the Swiss team before, Czechia showed an amazing match, but that was not enough to prevent the expected victory.
Czechia – Finland – Lineups
Czechia: 74 Eliska Svrckova, 81 Karolina Backova – 5 Veronika Machalkova, 7 Anna Bruchackova, 9 Barbora Fackova, 10 Valentyna Zerzanova, 11 Karolina Klubalova, 13 Sofie Gocova, 14 Barbora Loviskova, 16 Linda Fuchsova, 18 Tereza Matyskova, 20 Nela Sikorova, 22 Nela Kubalcikova, 23 Andrea Breska, 24 Tereza Hlaviznova, 25 Lucie Baldreichova, 26 Nikola Stekerova, 27 Klara Horcickova, 28 Karolina Liskovcova, 29 Anna Sigmundova
Finland: 1 Julia Saarinen, 31 Sara Vantos – 4 Pinja Suhonen, 5 Jenni Leppanen, 8 Saana Luostarinen, 10 Laura Ktajlisto, 12 Milla Granlund, 15 Miisa Turunen, 16 Veera Markala, 17 Nowa Vetelainen Lindgren, 21 Ella Virtanen, 22 Venla Nouslainen, 24 Bea Taipale^, 25 Ilda Sinkko, 27 Moona Poskiparta, 38 Sanni Kahla, 43 Tanja Parviainen, 56 Janina Rinne, 71 Julia Saarinen, 75 Elsa Holopainen, 87 Ilna Ranne
Czechia – Finland – Gallery
In the 2024 WFC U19 Girls section of my sports gallery, there is a designated major size picture gallery with 188 pictures of this match at
Flyctory.com and Czechia
Here are all my postings related to Czechia (formerly: Czech Republic):
Sports Postings about Finland
Here are all my sports postings related to Finland: