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Kreuzlingen wins the third final against SC Horgen and is Swiss Champion for the 12th time in the club’s history.
This is an impressive achievement for a team that was promoted in the NLA at the end of the last century, and it means that the club from Lake Constance was able to win around 50% of the championships they participated in since the league promotion.
This title is once again the product of a systematic project to constantly add young players to the team and let them eventually replace the older players when the time comes.
Milan Petrovic, head coach SC Kreuzlingen
Kreuzlingen won the best-of-five series against the rivals from Canton Zurich in just three games. If we look at the single matches, the results are very close.
Game 1 ended with Kreuzlingen turning the result around in the last two minutes. The crucial moment was the time-out called by Kreuzlingen’s head coach Milan Petrovic, followed by the equalizing goal in man-up by lefthanded youngster Benjamin Pfister. The home team then took advantage of the momentum, scoring another two goals for the end result of 14 to 12.
Kreuzlingen dominated game 2 in Horgen and took an early lead by exploiting Horgen’s defensive instabilities. The team from Canton Thurgau remained focused and won with a clear 18 to 13 result.
I told my team that if we want to win, we need to counterattack starting from a solid defense trying to score 2-3 goals. The key was again to keep a high playing rhythm to get back into the game.”
Milan Petrovic, head coach Kreuzlingen
Game 3 started with Horgen taking the lead and finally showing a good start in a final series game. The record champion (30 titles) from Lake Zurich build an advantage of 6 to 4 at the end of the first half.
Kreuzlingen showed excellent condition and high rhythm, winning the third quarter 6 to 3.
Kreuzlingen’s head coach Milan Petrovic commented to wball.ch: “During the halftime, I told my team that if we want to win, we need to counterattack starting from a solid defense trying to score 2-3 goals. The key was again to keep a high playing rhythm to get back into the game.”
Horgen showed a good reaction and could tie 13 seconds before the end of the game with a goal from Oskar Kieloch, which preannounced that the game would most likely be decided in penalty shoots.
Kreuzlingen, who did not want to risk ending the game like this, went a last time in offense, where Robin Player gained a penalty shot three seconds before the final whistle. Gabor Turzai took advantage of the situation and set the final result to 14 to 13.
It is a fair and deserved end of the season for Kreuzlingen, who is doubling the titles in 2023, as they already won the Swiss Cup this year. Kreuzlingen dominated the regular season with only one loss to Horgen and a draw to Schaffhausen and was able to qualify for the semifinals, winning against Schaffhausen in three games.
Over the season, they showed themselves as a disciplined team with a clear team hierarchy and roles.
“This title is once again the product of a systematic project to constantly add young players to the team and let them eventually replace the older players when the time comes. This way, they have time to learn from the experienced players and grow into the core team. We did this with players like Robin Pleyer, Joel Herzog, and Simon Geiser, and we already have some interesting prospects like Flurin Rickenbach, Benjamin Pfister, Linus Längle, and Dominic Mlcoch that played in the finals this year.” commented Milan Petrovic.
For Horgen, despite the disappointment of losing the final, remains the merit of building a quality team that could challenge Kreuzlingen in a thrilling series. It’s the best achievement since the title in 2015.
On the last note, Carouge won the final for the bronze medal against Schaffhausen 12 to 9.
