Astralpool CN Sabadell will play their ninth Champions League final this Saturday (5:30 p.m.), defeating Orizzonte Catania (12-13) in a very long-suffering duel at the Can Llong pool (Sabadell). The Catalan players, with some successful Bea Ortiz (3) and Judith Forca (3), turned the game around in a hectic last quarter with a 1-3 run, after losing three (5-2).
The finalist will come out of the duel between CN Mataró and Dunaujvaros.
CN Sabadell opened the scoring with their first shot through Maggie Stephens to the left crosshead, but in three minutes the Sicilian team turned the game around with goals from Bettini, heeled to the right post, and Marletta with a powerful shot from long distance. Van der Sloot replied after a few seconds with the equalizer from a chopped penalty (2-2). The seasoned defense of the Vallesanas, intense on the buoy and the Italian pitchers, allowed them to close the first period with a draw, since David Palma’s men were not at all fine in attack, without speed or movement.
The second quarter did not start well. CN Sabadell conceded Viacava’s 3-2 score with a slap from the dovecote and immediately afterwards Williams’ 4-2 score with a powerful long shot and Bettini’s 5-2 score, which evidenced Valles’ defensive fragility. In three minutes, three goals to make access to the final more difficult.
The comeback operation began. CN Sabadell got up and went on the attack to score a resounding partial 1-4 in 5m15s (from 5-3). Bea Ortiz closed the gap (5-3) finding a hole in her shot between the dense barrier of Italian arms. And in the next attack, Maggie Stephens, in a buoy position, made it 5-4 in a half turn; Judith Forca put the 5-5; and Irene González with 7 seconds to go before the half-time horn made it 6-6 thanks to Forca’s assistance.
The third quarter was characterized by the incessant exchange of blows, with a partial score of 5-4, which allowed Orizzonte to enter the last round with a minimal advantage. Irene González, Vaseline’s Bea Ortiz, Forca and Van der Sloot’s penalty scored for the locals, while goalkeeper Laura Ester did not have a brilliant afternoon and conceded a resounding 11/12 shots.
In the last quarter, Sabadell regained hope with the opening goal by Bea Ortiz, a powerful dive shot that put the tie at 11, with 7 minutes to go. Maica GarcÃa finally appeared to make it 11-12 patting a great pass from Van der Sloot; It was the first Vallesan advantage since 6-7.
Sabadell redoubled their defensive efforts, recovering balls, but they crashed again and again with the goalkeeper Condorelli, who was very successful. Laura Ester finally appeared with two stops in a row with 1m30s to go. From there came the attack that led to Judith Forca’s 11-13 with one minute to go.
But Bronte Halligan scored 12-13 with 34 seconds left and Sabadell missed their attack. Dead time with 20 seconds and attack for the Sicilians. Numantine defense of the vallesanas, recovery of Irene González and final. To the final, for the ninth time in the 10 final four that the Sabadell team has played.
“It was a very tough match, I’m very happy. We knew that Orizzonte was coming with everything, after winning the Italian Cup. We’ve gone from less to more, we’ve improved; in the last quarter, we looked at each other and said ‘ Up to here.’ The key has been that we have known how to play as a team, as a block,” said Bea Ortiz, who aspires to win her second Champions League this Saturday.
For his part, David Palma, the CN Sabadell coach, admitted that his team had suffered a lot, “as befits a Champions League semi-final. Orizzonte came down. We weren’t successful in defense, we conceded 9 goals in two quarters, despite that we were good inside, but not outside, and they scored a lot of goals for us”, acknowledged the coach. “The higher pressure and on the buoys worked very well for us. But in the final we will have to defend much better.”
