A beautiful Ortigia fights and fights generously until the last minute against Brescia, but fails to achieve the success that would have allowed them to take the series to game 3. The Lombards prevail narrowly (12-11) and win the third final place.
Piccardo’s green and whites come out to the applause of the public who, regardless of the outcome, witnessed a beautiful water polo match today. As in game 1, Brescia started better, taking a 2-0 lead, but Ortigia, after a bit of adjustment, overturned the score with extra-man goals from Napolitano and Carnesecchi and Ferrero’s penalty. In the second set, the Brescians were more aggressive in the offensive phase and brought the match back to a draw, before coming back ahead with Faraglia’s goal.
What reigns, however, is balance, because the green and whites respond twice with another penalty from Ferrero and the palombella from Inaba and, when Guerrato and Balzarini score the guests’ new double advantage, they remain hooked with Carnesecchi’s left-footed shot. In the third half, Bovo’s men accelerate and reach +3 halfway through the half. At the “Caldarella” there is a fear that Ortigia will disunite, but the green and whites sweep it away thanks to Cassia’s beautiful brace which rekindles the fans. The enthusiasm, however, was not enough, because at the end of the half Brescia set the score at 11-9. The match, however, remains open and unpredictable even when, at the start of the fourth half, Brescia extends to +3 and then wastes the superiority that could close the game.
Ortigia, in fact, took advantage of the situation to come back: within a minute, Cassia and a splendid shot from Inaba brought the green-and-whites within a single point. We fight until the end and Piccardo takes his last chance with the time-out, also sending Tempesti forward, but to no avail. Ortigia finished in fourth place but enjoyed the warm and well-deserved greeting from its fans under the stands.
At the end of the match, coach Stefano Piccardo commented on the defeat and the season as follows and underlined the qualities of the group: “I am very satisfied, even if now there is regret, because losing is never pleasant. We had a moment of decline in the third half, we made some small mistakes, but I’m happy with the performance and also with the year. I believe this is one of the best seasons in recent years, because confirming yourself in the top four places after changing six players is not at all easy. Our best quality is the fact that we unite, that we are resilient in the face of difficulties. The boys interpreted the season well. If we have to make an overall assessment, it is certainly very positive, because we are now among the top four or five teams in Italy and we are also at a high level with the youth teams. I am very proud of what my club does. Now we will look at what the market will give us, we will see how the company will move”.
After the match, Christian Napolitano, captain of Ortigia, also speaks, saddened by the defeat but proud of the team: “First of all, I want to congratulate Brescia who reached the Champions League. We will be in the Euro Cup for another year and there is a bit of bitterness at not having achieved the Champions League, but I have nothing to reproach my teammates, they played the type of match we had prepared. In my opinion we played a great match, both in Brescia and here. This championship has shown that, apart from Recco, the other four or five teams below are at the same level. Then you can win or lose. Therefore, I can only congratulate the boys on the season we had, because it was total hell. I hope that next year the championship won’t be like this, because otherwise it will become difficult for us old guys to continue. That said, coming back to us, it’s not easy to confirm yourself after seven years, especially if you have a continuous turnover and launch many young players. We are once again among the top four in Italy. Now all the teams fear coming to Syracuse to face us and this makes me proud. As a Syracuse native, I also thank the public who came to support us today”.
