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Kreuzlingen reaches its goal and manages to win against Novak with a two goals difference, avoiding the decision by penalty shots. It’s a historic win for water polo in Switzerland, with a Swiss team reaching the semifinals in a European club tournament.
The games were held in a packed, brand-new indoor pool jewel. The new Egelsee was built with perfect water polo sizes of 25 to 33 meters.
First quarter: Kreuzlingen set the tone of the game with goals from Robin Pleyer and Simon Geiser, with Tomas Bielik of Novaky responding with the 2-1 goal.
Second quarter: the high-guarded Nemanja Silj and Robin Pleyer could score again, bringing Kreuzlingen up front by three goals until Adam Berlansky reduced the advantage by scoring in an extra-player situation for the 4-2 result.
Third quarter: both teams scored repeatedly, and an excellent Darko Alexic contained the Slovak offensive. The Serbian goalkeeper showed once again his excellent qualities on the international stage.
Kreuzlingen’s force in this quarter was definitively the ability to score with other players like Noah Dudler, who scored twice and swam interruptedly on the right side, and Dominic Mlcoch.
Fourth quarter: goals from Robin Player, Nemanja Silj, and Noah Dudler kept Kreuzlingen’s dreams of reaching the semifinals alive, bringing the team two goals ahead for the result of 12-10, 68 seconds before the end of the game. At this point, Novaky’s players lost some nerves as topscorer Tomas Bielik and the backup goalkeeper Michal Gogola were excluded permanently from the competition.
Novaky made a last attempt to reduce the goal difference with Igor Cagalinec at the center, which Nemanja Silj very well defended. The Slovak center, with a past in the Swiss NLA for Aegeri, was subsequently ejected from the game due to violent play.
Kreuzlingen’s head coach, Milan Petrovic, called his second time out to organize the offense. The exclusion of former Jug Dubrovnik player Juraj Zatovic put Kreuzlingen in an excellent situation 43 seconds before the game to play an extra man situation, close the defense, and secure the result. A defensive ingenuity led to a counterattack from the Slovak team, which resulted in a penalty shot, transformed by Patrik Tisaj nine seconds before the end of the match.
The decision by penalty shootout was in the air as no fan of the team from Lake Constance expected the team to score quickly.
Robin Pleyer managed to get the ball a score, taking advantage of the insecurity of goalkeeper Adam Simkovic.
Conclusion: It was a great water polo event organized by Kreuzlingen, including ticket pre-sale, aperò, and a sold-out pool. Kreuzlingen showed character and decisiveness, beating a team composed of a mix of experienced players and younger talents. Swiss water polo fans are looking forward to the semifinals, which will be held in early 2024.
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 KreuzlingenKVP Novaky 
Sat 09.12.2023
13 - 11Full Time |
Details
| Date | Time | League |
|---|---|---|
| Sat 09.12.2023 | 20h00 | Challenger Cup 2024 - Quarterfinals |
Results
| Team | 1st Quarter | 2nd Quarter | 3rd Quarter | 4rd Quarter | Goals | % Man Up | % PS | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kreuzlingen | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 13 | 20 | — | Win |
| KVP Novaky | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 11 | 12.5 | 100 | Loss |
Kreuzlingen
KVP Novaky
 8  1  2 15 |
