Ortigia failed to achieve this feat and was defeated in Brescia at the end of a strange match, where the green-and-whites often went behind and then reacted and got back into the game. Piccardo’s boys had to chase their opponents for a long time, arriving a little tired then in some decisive moments, which could have changed the fate of the match. A match that the Lombards started better, taking a triple lead midway through the first half. A slap that shakes Piccardo’s boys, capable of getting back on track with goals from La Rosa, Ferrero and Cassia (on a penalty).
The balance doesn’t last long because, on the reverse, Lazic invents the Bedouin which closes the half at 4-3 for the hosts. The second set is even more lively and fast-paced, with a lot of competitive spirit and with Brescia starting well again, extending up to +3. Ortigia, however, did not give up, coming back with Bitadze (in superiority) and Cassia (on a penalty). The green-and-whites also have the opportunity to equalize, but they hit Tesanovic, and so Brescia, with Gianazza’s turn two meters away, regained the double lead. Same script shortly after: Cassia converts her third personal penalty, Gianazza responds from two metres. At half-time it’s 8-6 for the Brescians.
In the third half the match becomes more edgy and nervous: Alesiani’s shout is worth +3 for Brescia, who then extends further with Del Basso, sent off immediately after the goal for having insistently celebrated in Tempesti’s face. The green-and-whites kept their nerve and Cassia shortened again, keeping Ortigia in the game, who tried in the fourth half, moved to -2 and gave themselves the chance to get even closer several times. However, Tesanovic and some hasty solutions prevented the comeback. In the end, Brescia wins and it will be mandatory for the green and whites to win on Saturday afternoon, in Syracuse, to postpone the 3rd place issue until game 3, again in Brescia.
At the end of the match, coach Stefano Piccardo commented on the defeat: “At the beginning we paid for the fact that they had more pace, because they played a Champions League match in recent days. In the early stages, therefore, we had less freshness than them, then during the match we made a serious mistake at minus one and another later on, when we could have gone at minus two and instead we gave them an easy goal, sending them to plus four. So we always chased and that didn’t help us. It was a difficult match, we knew it, but the team came here, fought, proposed a game. For us, playing at the level of Brescia and the top teams this year is already a great result”.
The green and white coach underlines what didn’t work and which will need to be analyzed in view of Saturday’s match: “We did many things well and in the right way, but we were not very careful at the back, conceding too many goals in the first half of the match. Unfortunately, if you make even the slightest mistake, they punish you, but the idea of the game was right. In the end, however, we lost by two goals, we played until the end. Now race 2 awaits us. Tomorrow we will return to Syracuse and swim a bit, the day after tomorrow we will analyze the mistakes made and on Saturday we will be ready to do our best”.
After the match, Francesco Cassia, midfielder of Ortigia, who scored four goals this evening, also spoke: “It was a good match, we played openly, there were also many expulsions, many contacts, there was good physicality in the water. The trend was a bit particular, because first we went down by two or three, then we recovered, then down again, and so on. I must say that we were good at not giving up when we were behind, we kept the game alive until the end. These are positive signs for Saturday’s match, because we must try to bring the series to game three. Now we will analyze the errors and try to fix some small things that perhaps went wrong. Surely, in Syracuse, we will have to contain their centers and lower the number of goals to even men”.
