Fribourg-Gottéron failed to turn the situation around on Tuesday evening at the BCF Arena, in the round of 16 second leg of the Champions League, against the Swedes Växjö Lakers (3-3). Beaten 1-0 in the first leg in Sweden a week ago, Pat Emond’s men are therefore eliminated from the continental competition.
With this small disadvantage at kick-off, the Freiburgers quickly came back to the level by scoring in the 4th minute through Sandro Schmid after a mess in front of the Växjö goalkeeper, Emil Larmi.
But the Swedes, sixth in their championship standings, wanted to go further in the competition and did not intend to let the Dragons fly away. They equalized on a numerical advantage thanks to Manuel Agren (12th) who perfectly deflected a pass from Sebastian Strandberg out of reach of Reto Berra.
Dominant in front of the opposing goal, Gottéron failed to find the opening in the second third. On the contrary, it was the visitors who took off. In the 26th minute, Filip Eriksson put his team two points ahead in the total of the two matches.
We had to wait until the last period to see Gottéron set the mood in his rink. In 56 seconds, Jacob De la Rose (49th) and Marcus Sörensen (50th) tied everyone up. We then thought that the Friborgs could pass the shoulder, but a few moments later (51st), Félix Robert cooled the audience by scoring the third Swedish goal, synonymous with elimination for the hosts.
Two minutes and 19 seconds from the siren, Pat Emond tried to get Berra out, but the tactic did not work. Friborg will therefore be able to concentrate on the championship and think about its next match, Friday at home against Lausanne (7:45 p.m.).
For its part, Zurich qualified for the quarterfinals by beating the German Straubing Tigers 7-1. Already 2-4 winners in the first leg in Germany, Marc Crawford’s players reassured themselves in the second period, when the score was 1-1, by scoring three goals in 3’16” thanks to Denis Malgin (29th) , Yannick Weber (32nd) and Patrick Geering (32nd).
In the quarters, the reigning Swiss champions will face another German team, Eisbären Berlin (first leg on December 3 and 4, return on December 17).
Friborg Gottéron – Växjö Lakers 3-3 (1-1 0-1 2-1)
BCF Arena. 5043 spectators. Referees: MM. Brander, Vikman; Schlegel and Bürgy.
Buts: 4th Schmid (Borgman, Diaz) 1-0, 12th Agren (Strandberg, Sylvegard/% c 4) 1-1, 26th Eriksson (Henriksson, Nilsson) 1-2, 49th De la Rose (Wallmark, Gunderson/5 c 4) 2-2, 50th Sörensen (Gunderson, De la Rose) 3-2, 51st Robert (Agren, Persson) 3-3.
Fribourg-Gottéron: Berra; Borgmann, Diaz; Jecker, Gunderson; Streule, Sutter; Etter, Rathgeb; Schmid, Wallmark, Sörensen; Lilja, De la Rose, Sprunger; Mottet, Vey, Bertschy; Gerber, Walser, Nicolet. Coach: Emond.
Växjö Lakers: Larmi; Cooper, Granberg; Martinsson, Persson; Rosen, Giuttari; Sahlin Wallenius, Eriksson; Koivula, Rasmussen, Blichfeld; Agren, McLaughlin, Robert; Gustafsson, Strandberg, Sylvegard; Nilsson, Henriksson, Stjernborg. Coach: Jönsson.
Penalties: 1 x 2′ against Gottéron, 2 x 2′ against Växjö.
