Pixbo Wallenstam triumphed at Chance Czech Open for the sixth time
(16. 8. 2010, florbal.cz)
The Swedish giant, Pixbo Wallenstam, won their sixth title at the summer Prague tournament. In the men's elite final they won the thrilling battle by 10:9 after a penalty shoot-out against their compatriots from Sirius. Andreas Johansson was the player to convert the decisive penalty shot in front of the 5384 spectators.
"I'm very happy. You don't play such a game very day. The course of today's game was absolutely incredible," said the Pixbo defender, Tim Wiklund, after the game.
The players of Sirius started the final game much better. They played with concentrated defence and still they scored five times in the first period and were leading by 5:1 after twenty minutes. But Pixbo played in the second period in a completely different way. They controlled the ball and tried to equalize. The first fox to score was Tim Wiklund with a hard slapshot from a distance.
"We started terribly, but we couldn't just give up after the first period. We are always confident that we can win the game. Then we found our perfect rhythm and managed to score, even though it was very difficult. Sirius played very defensively and stopped most of our shots before they actually got to the goalie," Wiklund explained.
Pixbo's pressure from the second period didn't stop and the team from Göteborg reduced the gap to one goal only by the end of the second period, when Oskar Henriksson reduced the score to 5:6 with an accurate shot to the upper corner of Sirius' goal.
"We thought nothing could prevent us from winning the game already and hence we probably eased up the pace a bit. Then it was really hard to get our pace back," thought the coach of Sirius, Lars Jedheim.
The third period offered an unbelievable battle and the score was up and down. First, Pixbo tied the game at 6:6. Then Sirius scored twice again and led by 8:6. In the fifty-sixth minute, Pixbo managed to level the game with two goals, and a minute before the end of regulation, Isaac Rosén sent the foxes into the lead for the first time. He punished an inaccurate pass by Sirius with a goal scored after a shot and a tip-in.
But the plot of the final game was even more difficult. With three seconds left to be played in regulation, Sirius had a chance for a free hit in front of the Pixbo's crease, and Billy Nilsson scored from a pass by the captain Eric Svensson and sent the game into a penalty shoot-out.
"Several times during the game we told each other that we already lost the game and now were going to play a new match. That is why we managed to come back several times," revealed the experienced Pixbo forward, Daniel Calebsson. "Mostly we rely on our good defence and a perfect goalie, but today it simply was a gunfight," said Calebsson, who converted the first Pixbo's penalty shot with an excellent forehand feint.
Billy Nilsson was the only player to score in the penalty shoot-out for Sirius, and hence another forehand feint by Andreas Johansson made the Pixbo bench as well as the team fans in the arena explode with joy.
"The third period decided about our loss. We made about eight mistakes in our corners and hence provided our opponents with opportunities to score," said the Sirius coach, Lars Jedheim.
Pixbo celebrated their triumph at Chance Czech Open for the sixth time in history already. Sirius participated in the summer Prague tournament for the second time and after the gold from two years ago they're bringing silver medals home to Sweden this time.
"The entire tournament was fantastic, as always. Chance Czech Open is the best tournament in the world and it's great to play in the final. Many spectators came to see the game and they must have really enjoyed the battle," added the Sirius coach, Lars Jedheim. "The level of the clubs at the tournament keeps on increasing; many of them played great floorball here. The Czech teams are getting better and better; it's not just about Tatran anymore. On the other hand, it seems to me that the Swedish teams got a bit worse," Jedheim added.
The organizers selected Martin Östholm from Pixbo as the best player of the tournament. His teammate, Jon Hedlund, was then awarded the prize for the best goalie. The best scorers of Chance Czech Open were Billy Nilsson and Johan Eriksson from Sirius; they both scored eleven times.
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