Day 1 – Lausanne
17th of February, right after Valentine’s day, but forget all about love and cuddles and chocolates, as things were just about to get dead serious with the Alp League of 2024 kicking off in Lausanne. 4 teams, over 40 players, and only 7 games separating each contestant from the crown. Let the games begin!
First game of the season was between Zurich 2 and Lausanne. With Lausanne the obvious favorite and Zurich 2 making its first ever entrance in the Swiss championship no one knew what to expect. However, Zurich 2 put up a fair fight, and despite struggling a bit offensively with only 1 goal scored by Anne, managed to keep Lausanne on 8 goals total, with Inez scoring 4 of them (don’t say I didn’t warn you about her).
Next came Lausanne vs Basel, again with Basel the underdog. Unfortunately, as Basel did not have enough female players and had to use some Zurich subs the game was “officially” forfeited, but both teams still gave it their all. The final score was a very decent 7 to 4 in favor of Lausanne, with Deepak making an impressive performance scoring 3 out of the 7 goals.
The games of Basel and Zurich 2 against Zurich 1 ended up being a bit of a clinic, with Zurich 1 getting two very comfortable wins, 12-1 vs Zurich 2 and 13-2 vs Basel. For the first derby of the day, Basel vs Zurich 2, Basel decided to not forfeit the game and instead played with 7 players, ending up with a somewhat imbalanced game that finished 9-2 in favor of Zurich 2, despite Sam’s best efforts to split himself into multiple players and make up for the lack of 8th player.
Then comes the game we were all expecting and arguably one of the most thrilling games of the entire season- Lausanne vs Zurich 1. Both teams were looking to make an early demonstration of their force and set the scene for the rest of the Alp League. The game started with Zurich 1 scoring the first goal early on, but Lausanne caught up quickly and caught up hard, as it soon became apparent that Levi was planning to be incredibly deadly when holding the ball, scoring 4 goals just in the first half. Carra was determined to not let that slide, getting 3 goals of her own for Zurich, but still, the first half ended with Lausanne ahead 6 to 5.
Pressure was high for Zurich, and Louise picked up the scoring baton at the second half, making 2 goals, but Levi carried on with the high end performance scoring another 2 for Lausanne. With Lausanne one ahead and only a few minutes left, Zurich picked up the pace and fought till the last minute. Efforts eventually paid off as Louise scored what seemed to be a buzzerbeater, tying the game with only 13 seconds left on the clock.
However, to increase the spectacle, team Basel, managing the time, took the executive decision to forget the rules about rolling time 😝 and stopped the clock to give Lausanne one more opportunity for offense. But I mean, come on with only 13 seconds left, what could Lausanne possibly do? Nevertheless, it turns out Levi had not had his final word yet, immediately getting the ball and with a quick release shot scoring a majestic, yet painful for team Zurich, goal, just as the shot clock indicated the end of the game. Final score 9-8 in favor of Lausanne, with Levi having scored 7 of these goals and an incredible 80% success rate.
After such an exciting game everyone was in great spirits and we carried this atmosphere to dinner, then to Belga and eventually to the clubs of Lausanne!
