Lugano smashes Ambrì in the last derby

25 Nov 2013 | Davide Tuniz, photos by Marco Bertolini

Two victories in seven days against their archrival make for an unforgettable week for Lugano fans.

The season is not bringing a lot of satisfaction to the fans of Lugano. The team, once again, is moving along just above the line playoff cut-off line and the title, which has been missing on the lake shore since 2006, does not seem to be possible this year either. To make matters worse, archrivals Ambri Piotta, in recent years consistently at the bottom of the standings, are traveling at full speed near the top of the standings.

A ray of light came last Monday, when Lugano conquered Valascia Arena, Ambrì home ice, winning 2-1 with the decisive goal scored by newcomer Fredrik Pettersson from Sweden. So on Sunday, 7 800 fans crowded Resega Arena in Lugano, creating a great atmosphere for the last match-up between the two teams during the regular season.

Ambrì had won 4-1 against Lausanne in the night before, but Lugano played a perfect game, leaving no chance for their opponents opponents. It was 3-0 after the first period with Diego Kostner opening the scoring and Fredrik Pettersson scoring the second and serving the assist for the shot from the blueline by Ilkka Heikkinen for the third goal. In the second period, all Ambrì hopes for a comeback dissolved after 54 seconds when Stefan Ulmer bagged the fourth goal, again assisted by Pettersson. Dominik Schlumpf, Brett McLean (the Canadian signs a contract extension with Lugano for a year more) and Jacob Micflikier ran the score up to 7-0 before Marco Pedretti's late goal for Ambrì made it a 7-1 final.

"In recent times we've had many difficulties scoring, but now the music has changed and this is good," said Lugano coach Patrick Fisher. "Now we've been scoring much more and this is important, and certainly Pettersson is the right man for our team. He brings us the good intensity."

"It was a team victory and the seven different scorers prove it. All the lines played at the top, for Ambri this time there was no chance. We are delighted to how things are going now and above all I am pleased for the fans who can celebrate a capital performance," commented Lugano's Raffaele Sannitz

"We have no excuse," said Ambrì's Elias Bianchi. We did not have the right approach to the game. We lost too many pucks and against a team like Lugano you can't do that and they rightly punished us."

Daniel Steiner, a former Lugano player but now on Ambrì's roster, saw it the same way: "We can't make excuses. We were not solid in front of the net, while Lugano was, and they made us pay. We were lacking mentally. Are we at the top of the rankings? Yeah but we have to be careful -- just lose a few games and you will find yourself at the bottom. We need to stay calm and think about working hard. Congratulations to Lugano."