Group A: Estonia and Lithuania Clubs Secured Their Spots in the Quarter-Finals

January 30, 2023

After Matchweek 6, all four teams of Group A that have secured their spots in the play-offs became known. The Estonian clubs Viljandi HC and Mistra as well as the Lithuanian clubs Dragūnas and Granitas-Karys advanced to the quarter-finals. The Latvian teams ASK Zemessardze/LSPA and HC Ogre/HYDROX did not qualify for the quarter-finals.

TOP MATCH

ASK Zemessardze/LSPA still had a chance to reach the quarter-finals before Matchweek 6. However, the Latvian team lost both weekend matches to the Estonian clubs. The ASK Zemessardze/LSPA team’s match against Mistra was particularly tough. ASK Zemessardze/LSPA led for most of the match. Mistra outweighed the score only at the very end of the match.

ASK Zemessardze/LSPA – Mistra 25:26 (18:14)
ASK – Ozols 7, Kelerts 6.
Mistra – Orlovskyi 9, Buinenko 4.

Jüri Lepp (coach, Mistra):
The defence was not up to the expectations in the beginning. It was a hard fight to get back in the game. Of course, our goalkeeper Armis Priskus played very well in the second half.

Renārs Grebeņņikovs (player, ASK/LSPA Zemessardze):
Today’s game had both positive and negative emotions. We are happy with our 1st period performance, but everything changed in the 2nd period, when we couldn’t score goals, and the opponent used the opportunity to response. Unfortunately, it cost us this game. I believe that the 1st period shows us what we are capable of, and we need to improve our performance in the 2nd period.

ASK Zemessardze/LSPA – Viljandi HC 20:27 (10:16)
ASK – Grebeņņikovs 5, Ozols 4.
Viljandi – Ott Varik 6, Voika 5.

Kristo Voika (player, Viljandi HC):
Today we started a lot better. Or defense was more compact. ASK goalkeeper gave us some trouble but in the end we managed to score the goals. All and all we are happy with the weekend result. And of course we had our fans with us who were a big support for us.

Gints Greikšs (player, ASK/LSPA Zemessardze):
From the very start of the game, we were the ones in the role of chasers. We couldn’t keep up the pace and conceded a lot of goals in fast breaks, and had problems in scoring today also, same as yesterday in 2nd period against Mistra. We need to improve our attacking and quality in both attack and defense, heads up, we move further to more important games in future.

HC Ogre/HYDROX – Viljandi HC 31:34 (15:16)
Ogre/HYDROX – Leja 8, Jomants 4, Malahovs 4, Haisa 4.
Viljandi – Ott Varik 8, Basarab 5, Ots 4, Pertelson 4.

Kristo Voika (player, Viljandi HC):
Today’s game was as expected! Ogre played a very organized attack. First half we lost the ball too many times. And we played an Ogres game. Second half we started playing with calm heads and that’s where we got a few goal leads and managed to hold it until the end.

HC Ogre/HYDROX – Mistra 27:37 (15:18)
Ogre – Borodovskis 6, Leja 4, Haisa 4.
Mistra – Naumenko 9, Nerut 8, Annula 5.

Andris Molotanovs (coach, HC Ogre/HYDROX):
In the game against Viljandi, the team showed character. It was a good game. A little bit of luck. We played until the last minute of the game. In the game against Mistra, we played with 7 attacking players. We couldn’t score from good positions. In the second half, the players were very tired and we lost with minus 10.

Group A

Position	Team	G	W	L	GF	GA	+/-	Pts.
1.	Viljandi HC	7	7	0	220	175	45	14
2.	Mistra	7	6	1	208	183	25	12
3.	HC Dragunas	7	5	2	223	194	29	10
4.	Granitas-Karys	7	3	4	208	211	-3	6
5.	ASK Zemessardze/LSPA	9	2	7	232	279	-47	4
6.	HK Ogre/HYDROX	9	0	9	269	318	-49	0