ZURICH – The first round of the 2009-2010 European Women’s Champions Cup was played last weekend. The winners of the four tournaments advance to the next round.

Group A in Salzburg -- OSC Berlin advance

German champion OSC Berlin travelled to Salzburg at the Austrian-German border for the first game against host team Ravens Salzburg. The match between the two favourites of the tournament was thrilling.

The hosts dominated the play during the first two periods. At the end, Salzburg had a 47-29 shots-on-goal advantage, but the Ravens couldn’t capitalize on their chances.

Captain Eva Schwärzler opened the scoring with a power-play goal after five minutes. While the Austrians were desperate in front of Berlin goalkeeper Ivonne Schröder’s net – she had a 95.92 save percentage in two games – the Germans became better and turned the game.

Franziska Busch equalized at 35:19 and gained the lead at 42:04 with her second goal. It was a shorthander while Salzburg was having a 5-on-3 advantage.

Schwärzler, who scored 11 goals in three games, equalized at 58:08 with her second marker of the night, but eventually Berlin was declared winner after a shootout which went over 12 shots.

The tournament continued without surprises as both teams won their remaining games. Danish champion Herlev finished in third place while the tournament ended without points and with 0-71 goals for the Bulgarian club Slavia Sofia.

Group B in Ventspils -- Laima Riga advance

Latvian champion Laima Riga won the tournament they hosted in the west-coast city of Ventspils. After two lopsided wins for the Latvians and for Norwegian champion Sparta Sarpsborg, the Nordic teams met each other on Sunday in their last game.

Laima Riga set a strong signal with a 3-0 lead after the first period, but the Latvians were shaky as Sarpsborg cut the lead to 3-2 in the last period. However, the reaction came too late and Riga advanced to the second round.

British champion Sheffield Shadows finished in third place after a 7-2 victory against the Valladolid Panteras, who were the first-ever Spanish team to play in the European Women’s Champions Cup.

Group C in Kralupy nad Vltavou - Slavia Prague advance

Slavia Prague was the organizer of a first-round tournament about 20 kilometres outside of the capital, in Kralupy nad Vltavou. It was a tournament that started with a surprise.

MHK Martin from Slovakia, whose women’s national team will play at the Olympics, lost the first game to Slovenia’s Terme Maribor, 3-0.

The Slovenes were the only undefeated team after two days together with Slavia. However, as in the previous games, the Czechs celebrated a lopsided victory by defeating Maribor 7-1.

The Czech offense was dominated by their Canadian scoring leader Carson Duggan (7+6=13 points) and her American linemate Stephanie Jones (7+5=12).

Maribor finished in second place, Martin in third after an 11-3 victory against Turkey’s Milenyum Ankara.


Slavia Prague advances to the second round of the EWCC. Photo: Slavia Prague

Group D in Alleghe - Agordo advance

The tournament in Alleghe, Italy, ended with clash between the host team Agordo Hockey and French champion Cergy-Pontoise.

Agordo and Cergy-Pontoise had both six points and a 17-1 goal differential after two game days before they met each other in the winner-takes-it-all game. And also their head-to-head meeting looked like a neck-to-neck race for a while, ending 1-1 after the first and 2-1 for Agordo after the second period.

Agordo eventually cracked the French defence in the last stanza to earn a 6-1 victory.

The game between the two last-place teams was also a close affair between neighbours as Hungary’s UTE Budapest beat Romanian champion SC Miercurea Ciuc 2-1 in shootout.

Second round

The four tournament winners of the first stage advance to the second round, which will be played in the following groups, December 4-6.

Group E: Espoo Blues (FIN), Aisulu Almaty (KAZ), OSC Berlin (GER, Q), Agordo Hockey (ITA, Q).

Group F: HC Lugano (SUI), Tornado Moscow Region (RUS), Laima Riga (LAT, Q), Slavia Prague (CZE, Q).

The hosts of the second-round groups will be announced soon.

The best two teams of each group will be qualified for the final tournament, March 12-14.