Damien Riat (left) hurt the Bernese.
freshfocus
Lausanne has resumed its march forward in the National League. After two badly missed matches against Lugano and in Kloten, the team led by Geoff Ward showed a much better face, Friday evening at the Vaudoise Aréna, to achieve a deserved victory against Berne (3-2 ap).
Due to the slight upper body injury of Finnish Lauri Pajuniemi (forfeited for both games of the weekend as a preventative measure), the Lions only showed up with five foreign players at kickoff. And with Joël Genazzi converted into a makeshift winger on the fourth line.
This backlash, however, did not disturb the LHC, which started the game with better intentions than during its last two outings. He could have made his good start to the game in the 3rd minute, but top scorer Théo Rochette was unable to push the puck into the back of the opposing net.
More realistically, the Bears were quick to open the score against the run of play, on one of their first forays into the Vaudois defense camp. Once again, it was a veteran of the house who hurt Lausanne: Benjamin Baumgartner (11th, 0-1), who victoriously deflected a puck thrown by Joël Vermin.
Kuokkanen not prolongation
Insufficient, however, to cast doubt on the Vaudois who are determined to achieve a third success in this new exercise. It only took 138 seconds for Damien Riat (13th, 1-1) to set the record straight, completing a nice collective movement from Lausanne. Falling with one more man on the ice, this success for the Swiss international was the first recorded in power play by the Lions this season.
Launched and full of confidence, the No. 9 of the LHC did it again in stride (16th, 2-1) by converting a perfect back pass from Antti Suomela. The rest of the game proved less prolific, despite Lausanne’s domination. However, it was Berne who managed to find the opening in the final straight, taking advantage of a long numerical superiority. In an ideal position, Waltteri Merelä (55th, 2-2) then left Kevin Pasche no chance.
Not letting themselves be discouraged, the Lions went for a well-deserved second point during overtime thanks to an unstoppable shot from Janne Kuokkanen (63rd, 3-2), again with one more man on the ice.
Saturday evening (kick-off at 7:45 p.m.), the finalist of the last play-offs goes to Rapperswil to challenge his nemesis. A trip that is a priori complicated as the Saint-Gallois have continued to surprise since the start of this 2024-2025 vintage.
Lausanne – Berne 3-2 ap (2-1 0-0 0-1 1-0)
Vaudoise arena, 8701 spectateurs. Arbitres: MM. Tscherrig, Eriksson; Steenstra, Stalder.
Buts: 11e Baumgartner (Vermin, Scherwey) 0-1, 13e Riat (Oksanen, Suomela / 5c4) 1-1, 16e Riat (Suomela, Oksanen) 2-1, 55e Merelä (Ejdsell, Loeffel / 5c4) 2-2, 63e Kuokkanen (Rochette, Sklenicka / 4c3) 3-2.
Lausanne: Pasche; Glauser, Bayreuther; Heldner, Frick; Sklenicka, Marti; Vouardoux, fiddler; Riat, Suomela, Oksanen; Bozon, hunter, fox; Hügli, Kuokkanen, Rochette; Holdener, Bougro, Genazzi. Entrepreneur: Geoff Ward.
Berne: Reideborn; Untersander, Nemeth; Loeffel, Lindholm; Vermin, Kindschi; Füllmann; Lehmann, Baumgartner, Scherwey; Merelä, Czarnik, Ejdsell; Sablatnig, Bader, Marchon; Graf, Ritzmann, S. Moser; Sign. Entrainer: Jussi Tapola.
Penalties: 4 x 2′ against Lausanne; 6 x 2′ against Bern.
Notes: Lausanne without Pilut, Prassl, Raffl, Pajuniemi (injured), Mémeteau (extra), Fatton, nor Kenins (Swiss League). Berne without Kreis, Kahun (injured), Henauer, Weber, Wieczorek, L. Moser, nor Rhyn (Swiss League).
