With plenty of luck, Ambri saved a 1-1 draw over time despite a holey defense in Biel and preserved her chances of qualifying for the play-offs. For the favored opponent, the dismissal of Finnish coach Petri Matikainen seems to have amounted to redemption.
Personnel concerns on the defensive – and still intact play-off chances: Coach Luca Cereda (center) and HC Ambri-Piotta.
Adrien Perritaz / KEYSTONE
On Thursday, Ambri-Piotta played his first first leg in the play-in – and then didn’t know how this game could have ended in a draw: against arch-rivals Lugano, the team lost a 4-0 lead at home – and then lost the series.
On Monday evening, Ambri played a draw again, 1-1 in Biel in round 2, and again it was a result that defied any logic: According to the “Advanced Stats”, the Bielers had a probability of victory of almost 90 percent. But they failed again and again because of the amazing goalkeeper Benjamin Conz. And also because of your own inability. Now the outsider Ambri has the chance to reach the play-off quarter-finals against the ZSC Lions at home on Wednesday.
Ambri’s coach Luca Cereda is not to be envied these weeks; with the exception of Tobias Fohrler, he hardly has any NL-suitable Swiss defenders at his disposal. None of the quintet of the Dotti brothers, the youngsters Pezzullo and Terraneo and the often superfluous Zündel would play relevant minutes for another play-off team. It would be a coup if Ambri could eliminate last year’s finalists Biel with this defense. On Monday, Cereda put the actual number 2 Conz in goal in order to be able to call up three foreign defenders. When asked about the personnel concerns, he shrugs his shoulders and says: “That’s Ambri.”
Leonardo Genoni’s passionate autumnal flirtation with Ambri-Piotta
Despite the ongoing contract of Finnish number 1 Janne Juvonen, Ambri would actually have to do everything in his power to find a second strong Swiss goalkeeper alongside Gilles Senn for the coming season in order to be able to use an additional foreign license on defense. In the fall, the club left no stone unturned to persuade EV Zug’s seven-time champion goalie Leonardo Genoni to move. Signing Genoni, 36, would have been Ambri’s most spectacular transfer coup of this century. Genoni was enthusiastic about the club at a young age; it was a passionate, serious flirtation, but in the end he decided to stay in Zug. Ludovic Waeber could represent an alternative if he decides to return from North America, where he has not yet found happiness. Waeber, 27, is contractually bound to the ZSC Lions, but he has little chance of playing there. If he moves back to Switzerland, his agent Gaëtan Voisard will ask the ZSC for approval. Either way, there is a lot of work waiting for Ambri’s sports director Paolo Duca – he will most likely also have to replace his top Czech scorer Michael Spacek.
The play-in opponent Biel is currently struggling with its own problems. Not necessarily in terms of quality, but a lot has happened at this club in the last few months. Coach Petri Matikainen was fired three games before the end of qualifying; The separation was not only due to the weak results and the apparently poor quality of training (“district league,” says one). Matikainen is said to have made a massive mistake in his tone several times; it is said that words that should not be tolerated were used. A final, uninhibited tirade after the shameful 5-0 defeat in Rapperswil sealed the departure of the trained police officer. Matikainen, 57, was hired in the summer to replace Antti Törmänen, who was suffering from cancer. It is unlikely that he will be seen on a gang again in Switzerland. At least not if references from Biel are obtained.
It speaks for the integrity of this team that it has picked itself up so quickly under interim coach Martin Steinegger. In six games under the actual sports director Steinegger, Biel has never lost after 60 minutes. And was also the significantly better team on Monday.
Biel’s tank may be empty after so much emotional drama and two play-in series. But basically Biel would definitely be the more unpleasant opponent for ZSC in the quarter-finals starting on Saturday because it would be a much better team. As in the previous year, the Finnish world-class goalkeeper Harri Säteri thrives in the decisive phase. Another trump card is the strong central axis. And yet: the starting position is tricky after the meager 1:1. There is great respect in the Biel camp for the guest appearance in the Gottardo Arena. There Ambri can achieve the first play-off entry since 2019 in front of his fiery followers. That would be a respectable success for the eternal outsider – the club has only made it into the top 8 twice since 2007.
A forgotten, slightly ironic aspect of this play-in series is that it’s because of Biel that it’s happening at all. It was the people of Biel who submitted the application for the change in mode introduced for this season based on the model of the North American basketball league NBA. The consequence is that the teams placed in ninth or tenth place have to win two play-in series in order to reach the play-offs. The modification is intended to give an advantage to the teams in 7th and 8th place that were directly qualified before the introduction of the play-in/pre-play-off.
Things were different in 2022/23; Biel would have already been confirmed as a quarter-finalist. And after the phenomenal last winter with second place and reaching the final for the first time, I hardly expected to slip so much in the table. Once again it is clear that the National League cannot currently be accused of a lack of balance.