What an intense day at Mendrisio!

On Saturday, November 12, both the JD and JC teams took part in the continuing Swiss championships at the Secondary school in Mendrisio. Our JD team played against the host team, the Gambargnese.

Two great matches were played and the team showed great improvement in their scoring and passing, but the difference between the more experienced teams is how well they play as a team. The younger JE players were able to participate in this championship and played against teams whose players were at least 3 years older! That did not stop little Damien (even as goalkeeper) and hardworking Sampo to make it difficult for the older players to get past them.

Congratulations for the great games and hard work which are fundamental to reaching the teams goal: more experience and to get better at stopping the other team from scoring!

The next championship games for the JD will be on November 26 in Montagnola.

Good luck!

For the JC team it was a day of ups and downs who played against the teams from Verbano and Sum Mendrisio.

Their team, coached by Raimondo and Andrea, was clearly dominated by female players (7 girls and 4 boys). The two matches played out very differently but shared a common characteristic: much improved team work because their heads were in the game. However, some work is still needed in getting the ball into the net and a stronger offensive.

There is little to say about the first match against the Verbano team with two strong changes and very competitive. Even with a poor start trailing 9-0 at the end of the first period, a few changes to the lines were made by their coach that helped reduce the pain in the second period with only 4 goals being let in. Even with many opportunities for scoring a goal (you need to concentrate!), the final score was 13 to 0. The score should have been more in our favour based on how well our team played.

The second match against the home team of Mendrisio showed great promise after the first period when our team was winning 4 to 1 thanks to goals by Thomas, Andrea B, Dorian, and Andrea M. Even with the great enthusiasm and energy of our stars, Mendrisio was able to recuperate in the second period causing our team to lose concentration and energy. Many great shots were stopped by the opposing teams goalkeeper except for the one goal by Andrea B from centre court. In the last 10 minutes, Mendrisio was not only able to tie but in the end beat our team 8 – 5.

It's too bad because our team really deserved to win this one and we are sure that they will next time!

Congratulations everyone!