Women’s Euro Cup: Orchette strike in Barcelona, Trieste defeat CN Catalunya (13-15)

Orchette on fire! The Women’s Euro Cup Group Stage begins with a precious away victory for Pallanuoto Trieste. At the Sant Jordi pool in Barcelona, the team sponsored by Samer & Co. Shipping overcame CN Catalunya 13-15, a result that puts them temporarily on top of Group D. “We knew it was going to be a tough match,” said head coach Paolo Zizza. “We went 3 goals down right away, but we didn’t lose our composure and reacted immediately. A great performance—congratulations to the girls.”

Match report. The hosts got off to the better start, surging ahead 3-0 thanks to Falvey and Frigola. The Orchette reorganized quickly, closing the first period at 3-2 with goals from De March and Cergol. The captain then scored a superb lob for 3-3 early in the second quarter, and from there the game stayed balanced. The unstoppable Lucrezia and McDowall pushed Trieste ahead by two (3-5), while Catalunya relied on Houghton’s initiative to make it 6-6 at halftime.

In the third quarter, Trieste tried to break away. Frigola and Toha replied to goals from Allen and McDowall, then the left-handed American and the New Zealand attacker produced a +3 lead (8-11). It could have even become +4, but Aarts saved a penalty from Allen. The final period began with the scoreboard showing 9-12.

At the start of the fourth quarter, Catalunya closed the gap through De La Puente and Houghton (11-12), but it was only a brief scare for the Orchette, who never lost control. Gant made it 11-13, De March scored the 11-14 with 3:11 left on the clock, putting a serious stamp on the match. De La Puente tried to keep her team in it (12-14), but McDowall fired home the 12-15; Arino Ruiz’s goal for 13-15 with 7 seconds remaining didn’t change the outcome.

Next up is the women’s Serie A1 championship: on Friday, November 14, Pallanuoto Trieste will visit Plebiscito Padova. Kick-off at 19:30, live on RaiSport.

CN CATALUNYA – PALLANUOTO TRIESTE 13-15 (3-2; 3-4; 3-6; 4-3)
CN CATALUNYA: Aarts, Vosseberg, De La Puente 2, Tarrino, Bellindo, Inglavaga, Frigola 2, Falvey 3, Peragon 1, Houghton 3, Arino Ruiz 1, Sekine, Perez, Toha 1. Coach: Belmonte Vidal
PALLANUOTO TRIESTE: Sparano, G. Zizza, De March 3, Petrucci, Gant 1, Cergol 4, Klatowski, Colletta, Marussi, McDowall 5, Battu, Allen 2, Mancinelli, Abbondanza. Coach: P. ZizzaReferees: Grandin (France) and Van Den Berg (Netherlands)