The reigning European Champions, the team from the University of Rouen in France, will not have the chance to defend their Championship title at the European Universities Games Zagreb-Rijeka 2016. The French team lost in the quarter-finals to the University of Munster with 2:1.
During the first half, both teams tested each other. The contenders from Germany were keen on taking the French team off the throne. During the first part of the match, there were no goals and the teams measured each other’s strengths. Both goal keepers did not have a lot to do and the first half ended with 0:0.
The second half proved why this match was considered the quarter-final derby. Lena Gosewinkel passed the ball to Joana Beckers with a great heel kick, and Joana didn’t have a lot of difficulties getting past the Rouen goalkeeper in a one-on-one, opening the scoring. The French team was dominant for the next 10 minutes and then came the shock: second goal for Munster, and it was an own goal scored by Laurene Duclaud who did not have any other choice after a great play by the Gosewinkel sisters. Marie passed the ball to Lena and the French team capitulated.
Rouen had a chance to get back into the game mere minutes later when Shirley Pigache missed the empty net from just half a meter away. The significance of that wasted opportunity became apparent later when the captain Fanny Gosseye scored a goal for 2:1, which was also the end result. Munster won the match, advancing to the semi-finals.
Two Polish teams, Jagiellonian University in Krakow and Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, played each other at Trešnjavka Sports Hall. Both teams were familiar with each other from their home competitions. The first minutes of the game were marked by careful play as each team tried to find their opponents’ weak spots. The score was tied after the half time whistle, with both sides scoring once: Karolina Duel of Krakow opened the scoring, while Adriana Sikora tied the score in the closing moments of the first half.
Krakow was dominant in the second half and finally capitalized on their dominance as Katarzyna Ladocha scored, putting Krakow ahead again. Even though they had five accumulated fouls, Krakow managed to keep the lead, performing flawlessly in the defence. Towards the end, it was clear that the team from Poznan would have to play with five players to catch up; however, Natalia Sitarz and Justyna Maziarz decided to put a stop to it and scored for the final score 4:1.
The University of Zagreb and the University of Minho met at Sutinska Vrela Sports Hall, and the home team managed to notch a 4:3 win.
The University of Zagreb started the match better, scoring four goals in the first 14 minutes. Martina Krog scored in the sixth minute, while Tihana Nemčić scored in the tenth minute. After a good play, Martina Krog scored again in the 14th minute, scoring her third several minutes later. The team from Zagreb relaxed after so many goals and Minho used the opportunity to try to catch up. Fernanda Alves scored in the 15th minute for 4:1, while Ana Salomé Leal scored in the 18th minute for 4:2.
Afterwards, the University of Zagreb lost their dominance because, focusing on defence the Portuguese players surrounded their goal in hopes to score. After a lot of missed chances, Fernanda Alves managed to score in the 37th minute. However, Zagreb didn’t allow the Portuguese to make a comeback and kept their lead until the end of the match.
Zagreb’s top scorer Martina Krog said she was pleased with her performance because she played poorly in the previous match, while she scored three times today. She also commented on the way her team played after scoring so many goals:
‘We were in the lead pretty fast, but unfortunately, we got careless and it wasn’t hard for the Portuguese team to score some goals. We’ll have to be careful in the semi-finals. ’
Moscow State University of Mechanical Engineering played against the University of Wurzburg for the semi-finals, and the Russian team proved to be better, winning 4:2.
The team from Moscow State University was dominant from the beginning. They outplayed the University of Wurzburg with their quick play full of passes, and by the end of the first half-time, they were in the lead with 3:0. Nataliya Znamenskaya scored in the 11th minute, Elena Merkulova in the 12th, and Olesy Vorobey in the 19th minute.
At the beginning of the second half, it looked like the team from Moscow would win easily after Tatiana Deripasko scored for 4:0. However, the German team woke up and started playing aggressively. Sophia Dietze scored in the 28th minute, and Tabea Rauschenberger scored in the 31st minute for 4:2. The German team had four or five opportunities to catch up to the Russians, but they simply couldn’t score.
Aleksandr Pleshakov, the Russian coach, said that he was pleased with his team getting into the semi-finals, but that he wasn’t happy with how they had played: ‘My girls had a big advantage and then they relaxed. The German team almost managed to punish us for that. ’
Results
