Täby FC - Pixbo Wallenstam IBK 7-0 (3-0, 2-0, 2-0)

The last match of my January floorball trip to Sweden lead me to Täby in Northern Stockholm. It was the tenth match within four days, after having eight Champions Cup ones and Fredrik Holtz’s match in the Allsvenskan. This Women match in the Svenska Superligan faced Täby FC and Pixbo Wallenstam. Pixbo came with Lara Heini, the young former Piranha Chur keeper and Swiss international, and Czech Denisa Ratajova, who won the Finnish championship with SB-Pro the previous season. Täby featured a couple of famous names like Moa Tschöp and played a good season so far, ranked fourth. Pixbo is always on the top of the list when it comes to SSL favorites. They were ranked second before the match.

There is a full size picture gallery of this match.

Täby vs. Pixbo – Match Report

The match started balanced, when Pixbo gave the hosts the first chance to score. Ida Sundberg made a silly lying play in the offensive zone. In power play, Julia Croneld hit the goal after a Moa Tschöp goal. Before the pass, Josefin Wallinder hurt herself in the corner of the narrow Tibblehallen rink. She could not play on any more. During the next minutes, the defensive blocks on both sides controlled the match, so that neither Heini nor Täby’s starter Alexandra Durling were really buzy. Thus, it was a bit surprising that Täby could increase the score in the 14th minute. She completed a nice left wing fast attack after a pass of Ranja Varli. Täby seemed to find the gaps in the Pixbo defense, while the guests struggled in both, offense and defense. Cronfeld did her second one of the day in the 16th minute with a right wing flat shot. 3-0 after twenty minutes.

Pixbo played did it like in the first period – unlucky!

Pixbo tried to come back at the beginning of the second half. I barely had a chance to take good pictures, sitting behind Heini’s goal – the ball was just in Täby’s zone all the time. However, the story of the period was just like in the first twenty minutes: the guests just did not make it. On the other side, Täby made it better. Croneld was still not done with her day and did goal number three after 28 minutes. It was the first attack on Heini after some minutes, Tschöp did the assist and Croneld a flat hard one to the long post. Caroline Adelöw had to take an Incorrect Hit penalty in the 29th minute and Tschöp scored in a way to remember. From behind the goal, she hit the back of Heini, the ball deflected in the net.

Heini had a couple of great saves on the one hand – but was as unlucky as her team in other situations. There was more pressure now on Durling, the Gothenburg girls really tried it hard and even had a power play at the end of the period. It was a bit like what you call “Annika Kournikova” in poker: looking good, no gain. No matter what they tried, they failed.

Time ticking down towards a Täby victory

The third period was quite balanced, the defenses and especially the goalies did some nice effort to avoid additional score. This however meant that a Pixbo return in the match became more and more impossible. The clock went down and goals were only scored by Täby. Attermo did goal number six in a fast attack in the 57 minute. She had the chance to score again, being right in front of Heini without defense half a minute before the end of the match – but Malin Blohm was in even better position on the left hand side to finalize the score of the match – 7:0.

Täby vs. Pixbo – My View of the Match

From the Pixbo perspective, these are those days in sports where you can try and try and try and… You know… Nothing working out. Always a matter of perspective whether Täby’s defense was too strong or Pixbo’s offense too weak… The combination lead to a straight score.

From the home team perspective, this is about a perfect game. You control it when you need it, the opponent never moves you out of your comfort zone and you hit the target when necessary. Alexandra Durling gave her team the necessary backing on top and shut out the opponents. A great day for the Northern Stockholm team. Next one may be the same – or not. Pixbo will likely do better next time.

Täby vs. Pixbo – Lineups

Täby FC: 1 Alexandra Djurling, 93 Matilda Östlund-Visén – 2 Maia Kollberg, 3 Sara Attermo, 9 Elin Gilberg, 10 Ranja Varli, 11 Malin Blohm, 12 Elin Lundström, 14 Moa Tschöp, 15 Micaela Sjöberg, 16 Anna Peterzen, 19 Linnea Wiregard, 20 Madelene Westerberg, 21 Carolina Myrvoll, 32 Jennifer Stahlhult, 44 Lisa Carlsson, 87 Julia Croneld, 94 Matilda Sjödin

Pixbo Walenstam IBK: 94 Lara Heini – 5 Eliska Krupnova, 7 Therese Landen, 8 Amanda Melberg, 11 Lisa Andebratt, 12 Amanda Lööv Miljevic, 14 Klara Loneberg, 21 Linnea Wilhelmsson, 22 Laura Manninen, 24 Ida Sundberg, 25 Mia Karjalainen, 28 Denisa Ratajaova, 29 Carolin Adelöw, 30 Alicia Flyke, 44 Isabell Krantz, 65 Josefin Walinder, 71 Emma Stenberg, 86 Linda Andersson, 93 Emelie Södergren