The play-ins start with a spectacle in Leventina. HC Lugano shows character and makes up for a match that they almost lost.
The overwhelming euphoria of the Ambri annex was suddenly broken on Thursday.
Samuel Golay / Keystone
“Una storia d’amore lunga una vita”, a love story that lasts a lifetime. That is Ambri’s slogan, which survived the move from the old Valascia across the road and airfield to the new Gottardo Arena on the motorway. “Lifelong” should also apply to the mutual rejection that Lugano and Ambri maintain in the Ticino derby. When not only honor but also one of the last play-off places are at stake, this passion threatens to boil over.
In order to call on the fans to reason, the two clubs spoke out together before the first match on Thursday and called on their hot-blooded supporters not to exceed the limits of fairness. The call ended with the words: “The joint invitation is to experience three days full of emotions, passion and sporting pride, but also with education, clarity and civic spirit.”
The game starts late
The choreography of the Leventiner appendix with blue and white garlands made it necessary to use the ice cleaning machine even before the first face-off. Instead of starting at 8 p.m. as planned, the match started almost 15 minutes late. But who wants to haggle for minutes when it’s about eternal love?
HC Ambri-Piotta and his supporters showed passion in this first game, at least at the beginning. The starting minutes belonged to the guest from Lugano. But then Jakob Lilja and Tim Heed gave the Leventiners a 2-0 lead within just 15 seconds. After a good 12 minutes, Johnny Kneubühler scored to make it 3-0, and Ambris could no longer be stopped. The noise level in the Gottardo Arena reached an unhealthy level, as did the complexion of part of the Lugano annex.
After the first third, HC Ambri-Piotta led 3-0, and from Luganesi’s point of view that was almost the best news. When Inti Pestoni increased the score to 4-0 in the 26th minute, the match seemed decided and the humiliation of the Sottoceneri rival that Leventin had hoped for was a reality.
But Ambri’s glory only lasted less than a minute. Luca Fazzini scored 1:4 and thus also registered Lugano in the game. The game finally tipped over in the final third. In the final phase, Michael Joly and Santeri Alatalo equalized the game within a minute. Lugano was still looking for victory and did so with so much passion that in the final phase they were over-enthusiastic and had six players on the ice instead of the allowed five, but noticed this in time before the face-off and thus avoided a penalty.
Alatalo, who tied the match at the end, said his team missed the start but always believed they could turn things around. The development of the game proved that these were more than just the usual platitudes. Alatalo said: “In the first third we weren’t the Lugano that people usually know.” The mood was less euphoric for Ambri player Johnny Kneubühler, who used an S-word that would not be appropriate to quote.
The second duel will take place on Saturday
Nothing is lost yet – not for Ambri and certainly not for Lugano. The derby love story, which is also a legend of passion, continues on Saturday evening at Resega. Both teams go into this second match with one point from Thursday. Whoever wins – whether after 60 minutes or after extra time – will be in the play-offs against Fribourg-Gottéron. The loser still has another series against the loser of the duel between Geneva/Servette and Biel, in which the Zealanders presented.
😍Wow, what an entry into the play-in!
💥Lugano recovers from a 0:4 deficit.
🚨Biel decides the game shortly before the end.📱All highlights & voices are now available in the MySports app!#NationalLeague I #IamFan pic.twitter.com/AItuPSiFPy
— MySports (@MySports_CH) March 8, 2024
Before the match, Ambri’s coach Luca Cereda had spoken of an extended Ticino carnival. It goes into overtime on Saturday. Emotions are likely to run high again. The large police presence that was on standby in front of the Gottardo Arena on Thursday had a quieter evening than feared. But who knows whether it will stay that way on Saturday. Because then the points will definitely not be shared.