Finland and Lithuania got victories in the second day of Baltic Sea league

December 2, 2023

Finland and Lithuania got victories in the second day of Baltic Sea league

Saturday saw the continuation of the women’s Baltic Sea league in Estonia and Lithuania. All together there were four games, in which teams from Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Finland took the field. 

In the first game there was a battle between Lithuanian domestic teams, as VMSM Sostines Tauras VHC took two points against Cascada. After edging out the first half by four points they took a commanding 31:23 victory, which was led by Gabija Pilikauskaitė scoring 16 goals. Mantė Voskresenskaja was the top scorer for Garliava with ten goals. 

Second battle saw Finnish team Dicken take a certain victory over their opponents from Latvia, REIR/Dobele. Powered by Johanna Hilli´s ten goals, they won 39:26. Linda Kanepe scored 7 times for the Latvians. “The key for us today was a great defense and getting some easy goals from fastbreaks from there. Everyone played their part and our goalkeepers performed on a good level,” said Hilli, who was the MVP, after the game.

“Today’s game was a very fast paced affair, which was very hard for us. We made a lot of easy mistakes and lost the ball too much. We will try to keep a better hold of the ball tomorrow and get a better result tomorrow,” commented Kristiāna Blažēvica, who was voted the best player of the game for the Latvians

The third game of the day saw SK Latgols from Latvia taking the field against the Finnish side Dicken. Like their compatriots, Dicken also took a confident victory. With Malena Heikkinen scoring 12 goals, they won the first half 17:11 and the whole game 40:22. Top scorer for the Latvians was Madara Cibulska with seven goals. 

“We had great cooperation with the defense and goalkeepers and got some easy goals from fast attacks. We can be a little better with decision making for the next game,” said the best player from the Finnish team, Malena Heikkinen. “These competitions are new for us and this level is challenging. This tournament is full of emotions for us and we will get the experience we need to compete better in Latvian championships,” answered the best player of Latgols Marija Dergačeva. 

The last game saw the host team Mistra facing against Kaunas Žalgiris from Lithuania. As for the last three games there was a dominant side here. After an equal start Kaunas made a 11:2 sprint in the end of the first half and that was enough to win the game 36:24. Top scorer for Mistra was Laura Kärner with seven goals and Gabriele Vegelyte responded with six for the Lithuanians.

“We played as a whole team today. We supported each other and were there for each other in defense and in the attack. That was the key for victory for us today,” commented the MVP of the game, Kaunas player Darja Belokurova. 

First tournament in the women’s Baltic Sea league:

01.12.2023
ESTONIA
16:00 Mistra/Estonia -REIR/Dobele/Latvia 33:32
18:00 SK Latgols/Latvia – GrIFK/Finland 25:41
20:00 Dicken/Finland – Kaunas Žalgiris/Lithuania 31:28

LITHUANIA
19:00 Vilnius Eglė VMSM Sostinės tauras-VHC 28:29

02.12.2023
ESTONIA
14:00 GrIFK/Finland – REIR/Dobele/Latvia 39:26
16:00  SK Latgols/Latvia– Dicken/Finland 22:40
18:00 Kaunas Žalgiris/Lithuania – Mistra/Estonia 36:24

LITHUANIA
12:00 VMSM Sostinės tauras-VHC CASCADA – HC Garliava SM 31:23

03.12.2023
ESTONIA
10:00 Dicken/Finland – REIR/Dobele/Latvia
12:00 Kaunas Žalgiris/Lithuania – GrIFK/Finland
14:00 Mistra/Estonia – SK Latgols/Latvia 

LITHUANIA
CASCADA – HC Garliava SM Vilnius Eglė

On the photo: Johanna Hilli scored 10 goals and two Finnish teams earned a victory today (Photo Credit : Joonas Kuuskla/Estonian Handball Federation)