Antoine Keller won a second match with the LHC.
Thomas Oswald/freshfocus
Lausanne has finally managed to defeat the Indian sign. Traveling to Rapperswil on Saturday evening, the Vaudois team barely dominated their bête noire (2-3 tab) to sign their second success of the weekend in the National League, less than twenty-four hours after their victory against Bern ( 3-2 ap). The LHC, beaten by the Lakers twelve times in the last thirteen clashes, had not won in Saint-Welsh since February 2021. An eternity.
To end the curse, coach Geoff Ward decided to bring back the same team as the one lined up against the Bears. With one exception: the young Antoine Keller (19 years old) took over from Kevin Pasche in front of the Vaudois nets, for his second start in the elite.
Oksanen-Suomela, duo gagnant
The Franco-Swiss goalkeeper quickly stood out against the surprise team at the start of the championship (four successes in as many outings so far), notably making a superb save in front of Tyler Moy (5th).
On the other side of the ice, Joël Genazzi (6th), Michael Hügli (19th) and Théo Rochette (26th) either came up against their former partner Ivars Punnenovs or lacked precision in the last gesture. We finally had to wait until mid-match for the match to finally settle: well found by Antti Suomela, the new top scorer Ahti Oksanen (33rd, 0-1) quickly turned around, before sending an unstoppable shot into the skylight of the Swiss-licensed Latvian goalkeeper.
The Lausannois could have doubted when they conceded the equalizer signed Nicklas Jensen (40th, 1-1) five seconds before the second siren on a guilty imprecision from Antoine Keller, but they showed great mental resources to resume in control of the match from the start of the third period. After 56 seconds of play, Antti Suomela (41st, 1-2) completed the first power play of the LHC evening.
The finalist of the last play-offs then calmly managed the end of the debates… until this very bad double penalty received by Tim Bozon (for a high stick in an opponent’s face) less than a hundred seconds from the final siren. The Lakers were quick to equalize by Nicklas Jensen (59th, 2-2), author of a double, and push Geoff Ward’s men into overtime.
Three converted penalties
This, largely dominated by the Saint-Gallois, has not produced any new successes. The fault lies with a particularly inspired Antoine Keller and great solidarity in the Vaudois ranks.
The decision was finally made during a breathtaking penalty shootout, which ended up going in favor of the LHC at the end of the suspense thanks to the transformations of Janne Kuokkanen, Antti Suomela and Jason Fuchs.
The three scorers thus allowed their colors to sign their fourth success in this new exercise and to put themselves back in the right car in the ranking. It is therefore with high morale, and certainly with the return of Finnish Lauri Pajuniemi (slightly affected and preserved this weekend), that the Lions will welcome Bienne, Tuesday evening, at the Vaudoise arena.
