GC Herren 1: Improved performace

Grasshopper Club Zürich - Rotweiss Wettingen 2 --- 3:1

This was our last game of the first half of the season. To set the base to stay in the NLA Master league we would need to improve again our game to beat Rotweiss Wettingen 2, which was 2nd in the NLA Challenge league and also alongside us promoted to the seconde round of the NLA Master league. Previously we drew against them in a thriller that was only decided in the last quarter and we were able to draw the longer stick in the shootouts and attain the extra point with one goal difference.

After a good week of intensive preparation and with the final tactical instructions and some encouraging words by coach Facundo we felt to be ready for Wettingen and to end the 1st half of the season with a victory.

The first quarter started off well. Following the predetermined tactics we were most of the time in control of the game, but were not able yet to score.

In the second quarter we continued our efforts, believing we will be rewarded for our efforts. Finally Roman was able to penetrate the D to force a foul. We were able to convert our second penalty corner flicked low by Fabio Landtwing. 1:0, halftime result.

The third quarter started different as planned. We weren’t able to keep the momentum we had had in the first half. Not finding the crucial passes into the front or converting our counter attacks, there was an ever increasing pressure on the back line not to let any balls through. We fought to stay unharmed in the 3rd quarter but had lost some of the confidence we had built up before. The game had become a bit more chaotic with Wettingen being eager to get their goal and us not sticking to the basics and playing higher-risk passes.

For the last quarter we wanted to play simple and decrease the risk on certain passes. We tried to keep our pace of the last 3 quarters, but Wettingen with a combination of quick passes equalized, 1:1. 12 minutes left in the game we picked up our pace again and were able to retain the same intensity in our passes and running that we had shown before in the 2nd quarter. The continuous pressing by our attackers lead to another penalty corner. Constantin Scheuer was able to convert this one to put GC back into the lead. 2:1. Keeping up the intensity we were able to get a dodgy pass to Michele, who was able to lob the keeper and score for the final result of 3:1.


With an acceptable 5 points we are going now into the winter-break. We look forward to continue our improvement with our new coach and aim for a spot in the top 4.

We thank the people who joined us along the lines for creating a good atmosphere during and after the game and we hope to see you all again at our next outdoor game to show you some good hockey. We will re-join the outdoor action on 5th of April in Luzern. Indoor we will be back on 1st of December.


GC Players:
Fabian Starsich, Jasper, Constantin, Roman, Robert, Hein, Rudy Lukas, Sven, Ben, Fabian Steiner, Fabio, Lukas H, Michele, Oliver, Lukas M, Joel

Goals: Fabio, Constantin, Michele

Coach: Facundo Quiroga