Imposing themselves with an eloquent 6-1 (3-0) win against Solothurn as part of the 23rd and final day of the National League B season, FC Lugano Femminile secured their stay in the category in the best possible way.
DOMINANT ACROSS THE BOARD FROM 1′ TO 90′
What was observed on side ground No. 2 at the Al Maglio Sports Center in Canobbio was a one-sided game. The credit goes to the team led by coach Giorgio Fransioli, dominant across the board from the first to the ninetieth lap of the lancet. To the delight of the fans who came to support them, despite the near simultaneity with the challenge of the first team in Cornaredo with Basel.
ALL TOGETHER IN UNISON ON THE OFFENSIVE
The chronicle of the duel starts from the seventh minute, instant when Anaïs Fragnito unlocks the contest, proving to be the quickest in stuffing into the back of the net a rebound by Aina Liebl on a deflection from close range by Melissa Colombo. Not satisfied, the bianconere continued to offer repeated offensive actions while keeping the intensity high. One hundred and twenty seconds after opening the scoring, Michelle Gigante failed to find the double due to a providential recovery by an opponent a couple of steps from the line. The guests looked for a jolt shortly after the quarter-hour mark, but her header from the center of the box ended up far to the side.
DOUBLING AND TIC-TAC-TOE EVEN BEFORE THE BREAK
In the nineteenth, a superlative vertical assist by Neva Patocchi finds the precise insertion of Mathilda Andreoli, who sprints past the exit of the opponent's extreme defender and inserts a low shot into an unguarded goal. A dozen minutes elapsed and again Patocchi recovered the ball and served Fragnito. The striker's diagonal shot goes just wide. We move at this point to the thirty-sixth, when Liebl misses a throw-in, Antonella Albertini intercepts and from forty yards fails to power her left-footed shot, allowing the return of the red and white number one. The same type of action, but starring Sabina Di Muro, is recorded the next minute. The #17 trequartista, unlike her teammate, finds the perfect timing and with an equally sublime lob inscribes the tic-tac-toe that sends the formations into the break at three-nil.
FOUR MORE GOALS FOR APOTHEOSIS OF SALVATION
The resumption, acquitted on obviously lower rhythms, gives a poker of fine scoring. Three minutes after returning to the field, Di Muro regains the ball and serves Andreoli deep. The top scorer of the group, who has risen to 13 seals on the season, does not miss her appointment and personally exults for the second time. A slight lapse allowed the Confederates to score the only point of the evening, signed by Sina Siepe (54′) with a lob from almost midfield. As control of operations returns totally to the feet of the home players, there is a chance to observe two more goals. With 15 minutes to go, Stella Suter pounces on a deep throw to drop the manita. That turned into the closing set at the 82nd, when Teresa Penzo, who took over in the early stages of the second half, joined in the HCL celebration.
RANKING SMILES WITH FLYING COLORS
The three points added to the meatpack, increased from 28 to 31, deliver Eleonora Castellani and her teammates mathematical salvation with two rounds in advance. The lead over the Wil, increased to ten points also due to the defeat of the St. Gallenese at home to Küssnacht a/R (2-0), is such that the Swiss-Easterns will not be able to catch up in the standings. The current fifth place of the underclassmen is getting closer and closer from being guaranteed. Next Saturday's away match with Étoile Carouge and the following home engagement with Sion will tell more about the final position of the HCL girls.
COACH FRANSIOLI'S POST-MATCH WORDS...
...on the emotions felt - "I think I need two hundred different emotions to describe what I experienced. It is clear that the whole championship has flashed before my eyes. When I think about what this team did over the course of the season, it felt like I had been at its helm for four years. Everything and more happened with a mix of incredible emotions".
...on the value of victory - "In the last few outings the team has matured so much. We started from below zero. I remember when Gaëlle Thalmann was talking in the summer about seven movement players plus two goalkeepers. The girls have always believed in that. The other day I saw a statistic regarding the matches of the season: we have seen each other more than 200 times! This victory and salvation is the least of the rewards they deserved for their efforts".
...on the growth of the group - "I have always said that with this team it would be sporting suicide to fail to save ourselves. Then, we know very well that a lot has happened since the day we first met. The group I have at my disposal is spectacular, so much so that we have seen steady growth over the course of the championship. Already in the return leg, I remember the away game in Schlieren, where we were supposed to win 6-0 and instead lost 2-1. It ended this run-up with incredible growth and with a result that until a few months ago we could not bring home. In the last few games we have found the complete square of the circle.".
...on the last two challenges - "I don't think we are going for a walk in either Carouge or at home against Sion. I had asked the girls during the week to try to take the field in the two remaining matches by giving everything and keeping our foot on the accelerator. We know that, having played twenty matches with some anxiety and not knowing the final outcome concerning salvation. Now that we have won it, we can have more fun and I am sure we will show some great things".
...on the strength of the group - "Of people who gave us away this season, I met a lot of them, both in our Canton and Beyond Gotthard. For us it was additional fuel to give even more. Even when someone was sneering at me the moment I claimed that my team has a high quality. At the beginning of the season, there were only a few girls who got on the boat. Then more joined, but there were never many of us. The fact that we didn't have that many on board gave us a huge boost toward achieving the goal".
