End clap for the LHC and the Champions Hockey League. The Lausanne residents failed to catch up with Genève-Servette in this return match of the round of 16. At Vernets, the Lions lost 7-4, so they were eliminated from European competition.
We knew that the task would not be easy for Lausanne HC. Having lost the first leg 0-5, the Lions had to score at least 5 goals to take Geneva into overtime, at best score 6, at worst be forced to go to the net more than 6 times if the Eagles were to score at moment in the match.
It is unfortunately in this last scenario that the Lausannois were propelled. However, the story had started well. Less than two minutes after kick-off, Damien Riat took advantage of the fall of Vincent Praplan, in possession of the puck and close to the goal, to open the scoring (2nd).
At that moment, there was hope. Even more so when Oula Palve was punished for having detained a Lausanne resident. But Geoff Ward’s men failed to take advantage of this situation. Worse, this is where, as in any good Hollywood film, the disruptive element appeared.
Or rather its reappearance since it was the same Palve who equalized just after the powerplay. A poor recovery from Aurélien Marti saw the puck arrive in the cane of Sakari Manninen who served Palve perfectly in front of the cage (7th). Benjamin Bougro did not arrive quickly enough to hope to hinder him.
Vincent Praplan then hit the nail on the head by deflecting Arnaud Jacquemet’s shot straight away (8th). Score displayed: 2-1. Actual score: 7-1. It’s no longer even a mountain that the people of Lausanne have to climb at this stage.
And the one who began to emerge as the hero of this journey is Damien Riat. The LHC number 9 brought his team to 2-2 by finding a mouse hole under Robert Mayer’s pad.
And of 4 for Preplan
But the second third did not smile on the Lions. Between two drawn-out scenes, the Lausanne residents conceded a third goal. Finally, we will say conceded because there is no autogoal in hockey. Because it was Kevin Pasche who accidentally pushed the puck that was right on the line with his skate. The goal was attributed to Vincent Praplan.
This same Vincent Praplan who, at the start of the third period, sent a rocket at Antoine Keller (43rd, assists: Palve and Jacquemet). The Lausanne goalkeeper had just entered the ice in place of Kevin Pasche.
Still the same garnet number 11 who scored his penalty in the 48th. Keller, however, had stopped the shot with his pad. But the goalie continued to slide backwards, and the puck with him, until he crossed the line.
Nothing to do
If we were at the cinema, we would say that the Valais attacker is the big bad guy of the story. The one who confirms all hopes and prevents happy ending. Praplan clearly destroyed any hope of the Lions of coming back to score. But if the match did not take the form of a Christmas TV movie, it is mainly because the LHC made the task complicated during the first leg. This certainly offered a nice outsider script which makes a comeback and wins the hearts of the public. But this only works in cinema.
Teemu Hartikainen and Josh Jooris will add two more goals to Geneva’s tally (52nd and 54th). The successes of Jason Fuchs (52nd) and Michael Hügli (55th) will save the honor but will not change anything at the end of this round of 16.
“We made it difficult for ourselves”
So there was a lot of disappointment surrounding the Lions when they left the ice.
This match had this particularity that it could not simply be won. How did the people of Lausanne approach this?
But have these goals to catch up added pressure, additional weight? “No, we put the pressure on ourselves after the first match,” replies Damien Riat.
Despite the heavy defeat in the first leg, with an average performance, did they still believe in it at one point?
On the other hand, the Lions quickly understood that there would be nothing to do. “When you see that the score is close and that you have to score 6 more goals, you tell yourself that it’s complicated,” explains the striker.
Despite everything, the good news is that the Lausanne residents’ schedule will be reduced. A few weeks ago, coach Geoff Ward told us that he had reduced the training rate by more than 60%. The Champions Hockey League has in fact added 8 matches to the 52 National League matches. “But at the same time, we remain athletes, and we want to win everything. So in the end, we’re not going to be happy with that,” says the Lausanne number 9.
