Grasshopper Club Zürich - HC Olten --- 3:3 (n.p. 3:5)
On this beautiful fall Sunday with surprisingly warm temperatures, we started our game against Olten at 14:00. It was the last game of this first round in the season, which could change the ranks before going into the second round next Sunday.
From the beginning, we could find good combinations leading to chances in the circle of the opponent. One attack with a long ball finds Artur who beautifully deflects the ball into the net with his backhand. With good control over the game, our Goalkeeper Philip has not had much to do.
During the second quarter, we keep having the game under our control. Olten has very few chances and we manage to keep them away from our circle. Immanuel manages to dribble through the defensive lines of Oltens several times and shoot on goal or pass for deflections. A rebound after one of Immanuel’s shots, lands close to Luca who moved up from the midfield. Luca seizes the opportunity and rockets the ball volley with his backhand into the net, scoring the second goal for the hoppers.
With the halftime whistle, all the players could get a much-needed breather in the shade as the heat and the sun were very tiring. After small corrections by Coach Franco in the halftime break, we confidently headed into the second half. Maybe too confident.
Olten starts with high pressure from the beginning of the third quarter. With a quick counterattack after recovering the ball, Olten gets the first short corner in the game, despite some discussions about the alleged stick tackle inside our own circle. The well-shot short corner from Olten finds the back of the goal. With the goal for Olten, they found new hope and energy to equalize. Unfortunately, at the same time, we had unconcentrated and weak 10 minutes in front of us. Shortly after the first goal for Olten, they could recover the ball and once again launch their dangerous counterattacks. It was this counterattack that led to the equalizer of Olten with a backhand shot from the top of our circle. And Olten was not done after the equalizer, they scored a third time with a nice combination in front of the goal. With the sudden change from leading 2:0 to losing 2:3 in such a short time we got a wake-up call and slowly found our strength and structure again. At the end of the quarter, Immanuel once again shoots on goal and Artur deflects the ball midair into the goal. With 3 goals for both teams, we head into the final quarter of this round.
The fourth quarter was a rough one where both teams fought hard. It would not last long and Olten would play with one man less after a body tackle from behind. Despite the superior number of players on the pitch, we could not find a way in front of the opponent’s goal due to a lack of patience and inaccurate passes. Olten even had another card and was playing with two men less on the pitch for a short time, but even then, we did not manage to score. At the end of the regular play time, the score was still 3:3 and the shootouts would decide who will get to take the additional point into the next round.
The shootouts were not in our favor this Sunday. We missed our first two shootouts. Olten however scored in all of theirs. In the end, Olten wins the shootout after the draw during the regular playtime.
In summary, a very frustrating game that we had under our control most of the time but still lost. It was not a lack of supporters as we were spoiled with many fans watching and cheering during the game, thanks again for your support. Overall, a decent and well-fought game, but it shows that even a short phase of lacking concentration and intensity can turn a game.
GC Players:
Philip Nitsch, Robert Keitel, Joel Plambeck, Constantin Scheuer, Fabian Steiner, Luca Frank, Lucas Harte, Lucho Ferrario, Immanuel Poulastrou, Patrick Krüsi, Oliver Haberthür, Roman Richner, Benjamin Eddy, Artur von Ruffer, Lukas Egloff, Lukas Gebhard,
Pascal Gremlich
Goals: Artur von Ruffer (x2), Luca Frank
Coach: Franco Romani