Šviesa started the Quarter-Finals with a convincing victory against Mistra

March 19, 2023

The BHL play-offs begin. Four teams from Estonia, three from Lithuania and one from Latvia are playing in the quarter-finals. The first quarter-final matches were played on 18–19 March, and on 25 March to determine the final four teams.

Lithuanian champion VHC Šviesa hosted the Estonian club Mistra in the first quarter-final match. The VHC Šviesa team started the match very well and won the first half 18:11. VHC’s biggest lead was in the 50th minute, when the Vilnius team had a 14-goal lead. At the end of the match Šviesa gained a 11-goal advantage before the second leg in Mistra.

VHC Šviesa – Mistra 36:25 (18:11)
VHC Šviesa – Plėta 7, Bliuvas 5, Urvikis 5, Sinkevičius 4, Palevičius 3, Rasakevičius 3.
Mistra – Aus 5, Naumenko 4, Buinenko 4, Orlovskyi 3, Nerut 3, Kopli 3.

Skirmantas Plėta (player, VHC Šviesa):
Our goal was to play as well as possible at home. Because there will be a tiring trip and a tough second leg away next week. I think we played very well. We won more than we expected. Now the most important thing is not to relax and not to think that we have already done everything. If we think like that, we can lose 15 goals as well. We played well, we scored a lot of goals. There were mistakes, but without mistakes it is impossible to play all the match. A tougher match awaits next week because the opponents will be angrier.

Jüri Lepp (coach, Mistra):
We knew what the opponents were doing, but there was nothing we could do about it. Today, the opponents were faster. We weren’t ready today, we couldn’t score goals and our goalkeeper didn’t help. We played badly. It’s a pity that we can’t show a good game in the quarter-finals, even though we’ve been playing well all season. Unfortunately, two of our line players are injured, so we’ve had some problems. And what kind of match is waiting next week? Well, we hope to win, but it is impossible to win by a ten-goal lead.

The second leg will be played on March 25 in Mistra.

There are two matches in the quarter-final round. Each pair will face off against each other at home and away, with the winners of both pairs advancing to the final four based on the aggregate score of the two matches.