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The Swiss National League officially started with the first winter tournament in Montreux’s 50m indoor swimming pool, Maladaire, under the new mode.
Day 1 review:
 
18 - 8NLA Regular Season
Clarens HB / Maladaire SC Horgen vs SC St. Gallen |
While Horgen did not exploit all their chances in the offense, it was enough to win the match against NLA promotee St. Gallen. It is the return of the five-time Swiss champion (last time in 1939) in the NLA after decades in the NLB and the dismantlement of the Tristar project with Romanshorn and Arbon.
St. Gallen had difficulty keeping the rhythm but played with a very young team and promising young players like 16-year-old Cédric Lüthi and lefthander Adriano Bozzo.
Horgen scored on all their seven extra man situation, and new joiner Djordje Manojlovic impressed with eight goals.
 
16 - 5NLA Regular Season
Clarens HB / Maladaire SC Kreuzlingen vs Riviera Barracudas |
Host Riviera Barracudas started their NLA journey immediately facing the Swiss Champion from Kreuzlingen. It’s a historic event for the Barracudas, a club founded in 1991 between Montreux and Vevey. Despite some absences, Kreuzlingen showed their strength, winning all quarters, and was able to contain the Riviera’s top scorer, Quentin Blary. Riviera appeared as an organized team but could now contain allrounder Nemanja Silj (4 goals), Joel Herzog, and Linus Längle (3 goals). Riviera could surprise one or the other team during the preliminary phase as long they improve their extra man rate (only 12.5% against Kreuzlingen). Kreuzlingen’s 16-year-old youngster, Michael Würth, made his debut in the NLA by scoring a goal.
 
13 - 9NLA Regular Season
Clarens HB / Maladaire Genève Natation 1885 vs SK Bern |
Geneva led the game from the beginning, also thanks to the effectiveness of their new player Ante Corusic. The Croatian center-forward transferred from Waspo Hannover did not disappoint and scored six goals. Geneva led 12 to 5 at the beginning of the last quarter. Bern was able to adjust the result in the last period. Despite the loss, it’s the first game in the NLA for the team of the capital since their last appearance in the NLA in the nineties.
 
7 - 11NLA Regular Season
Clarens HB / Maladaire Carouge Natation vs Lugano Sharks |
The game highlight of the first day of matches was between the 3rd placed from 2023 Carouge and Lugano Sharks. Carouge is still suffering the absence of defensive mastermind Kiriakos Pontikeas due to an injury. Pontikeas supported his team as assistant coach. The match proceeded evenly, with both teams containing their internationally experienced center-forwards Romain Blary of Carouge and Tommaso Busilacchi. The third quarter ended with Lugano leading by 6 to 5.
At this point, Lugano started to burn all the remaining energy and won the last quarter 5 to 2 with three decisive goals from Federico Pagani, who ended the game with six goals in total.
With this win, Lugano sends a big message. The work with the young players under coach Jonathan Del Galdo is starting to show results, while the return of lefthander Dusan Radivojevic (3 goals) and experienced goalkeeper Andrea Maksimovic makes Lugano a difficult opponent for every team.
Day 2 review:
13 - 15NLA Regular Season
Clarens HB / Maladaire SC Kreuzlingen vs SC Horgen |
The second day started with the two finalists of 2023 playing at 8:00 in the morning. Kreuzlingen had to face important absences of top scorer Robin Pleyer, center-back Simon Geiser, and winger Noah Dudler, while Horgen started the season without its former captain Petar Bjelajac (hiatus).
The game was played evenly with Horgen taking the lead at the end of the third quarter by 11 to 9. Kreuzlingen reacted at the beginning of the last period equalizing 12 to 12.
With 3 and a half minutes to go Horgen’s coach Lukasz Kieloch called the timeout to instruct his team. The team of Lake Zürich was able to respond to the wake-up call and inflicted three goals in 97 seconds with Elias Mathis and the new US lefthander Hal Goulder.
9 - 16NLA Regular Season
Clarens HB / Maladaire SC St. Gallen vs Genève Natation 1885 |
Genève Natation continued where they left focusing on the skills of the new center-forward Ante Corusic. Geneva took the lead from the start and won all quarters. Corusic ended up scoring six goals and Geneva completed the weekend with four points.
18 - 10NLA Regular Season
Clarens HB / Maladaire Carouge Natation vs SK Bern |
Carouge displayed all their scoring abilities with Romain Blary (6 goals), Hugo Roscio (5 goals), and Emrick Ardisson (4 goals). Bern was able to limit the damage in the first half and corrected the final score winning the last quarter by 3 to 1. Left driver Tomislav Denoble of Bern was the best scorer with 4 goals.
5 - 13NLA Regular Season
Clarens HB / Maladaire Riviera Barracudas vs Lugano Sharks |
The home team of Riviera played another good game against a strong opponent. Lugano took the lead early on and secured the win with goals from “Chicco” Pagani (5) and center-forward Tommaso Busilacchi (4).
The first round ends with Lugano, Horgen, and Geneva taking the lead, while newcomers Bern, Riviera, and St. Gallen are still looking for the first points.
The next round in the new indoor poll Egelsee in Kreuzlingen on February 10th-11th will redefine the top and bottom of the ranking.
