¡KaDy/Students lose 4-6 and are narrowly eliminated from top 8!18.07.2012
Universidad de Córdoba (España) - University of Jyväskylä (Finland) 6-4 (3-1) 4. Córdoba 1-0
KaDy/Students were bitterly defeated 4-6 by the hosts Universidad de Córdoba in the last round of the group stage of the European Championship (EUSA Games). Weak Finnish moments in the last minutes of the first half and the beginning of the second half, complemented by a few controversial decisions by the international referee trio, helped the hosts to gain a decisive 1-5 lead, which they defended successfully until the final whistle - despite a strong 15-minute 5 vs. 4 power play control by KaDy. The decisive black moments of the third game occurred in the 20th minute, as one of the referees found reason to judge that KaDy/Students fouled for the critical sixth time during the first half. The sole 10-metre penalty of the game resulted in a goal, and still before the final whistle the Spaniards gained a two-goal lead due to sloppy Finnish defending. Before that an early lead had, however, been equalized by Tomi Lahtinen's clinical close shot after yet another precise pass by Jukka Kytölä. The first minutes of the second half were disastrous as the hosts soon found themselves in a somewhat deserved 5-1 lead. Dynamo's 5 vs. 4 powerplay proved effective and the Spanish could not find the key to hold a clean sheet. Indeed, the Finns scored as many as three powerplay goals during a 15-minute fiery possession. That turned out insufficient as the hosts managed to score once more 33 minutes into the game. In fact, even a narrow 6-7 defeat would have taken the Jyväskylä team to quarterfinals, but the Finns remained forever two goals behind that dream. KaDy elimininated in bitter competition mathematics *) goals scored and conceded from matches between the top three only The merciless tournament mathematics thus reveal that KaDy/Students would either have needed one more goal against Tbilisi on Tuesday or two more goals against Córdoba today in order to proceed to quarterfinals once again. As neither of those scenarios happened, however, the Finns now have to satisfy themselves with the poor man's playoffs for positions 9-12. The tournament continues in the sun-scorched smalltown of La Carlota as follows: Sat 21 July, 21:00 (Finnish time)
+ Mikko Kytölä (C) 0+1 Matias Juvonen Jukka Kytölä 1+1 Tomi Lahtinen 1+2 Kerkko Huhtanen 1+0 Juho Mäkiniemi Mikko Takala Jaakko Kinnunen Kimmo Tolvanen (gk) 1+0 Management: Tero Kelhälä, Samu Kytölä and Jussi Kaihlajärvi |
