Lappeenranta’s Veiterä beat Porvoo’s Akhiles 3–1 in the final match of the men’s iceball league.
Lappeenranta’s Veiterä returned after a year’s break as Bandyliiga champion, when it defeated Porvoo Achilles 3–1 in the rainy and foggy Lappeenranta Kisapuisto.
Sampa Ääks gave the home team the lead, but Rasmus Kettunen tied the game just a couple of minutes later. The break was tied at 1-1.
In the second half, Veiterä scored twice. The 2-1 lead was only scored by the 16-year-old SpongeBob Simpura for over an hour of gameplay.
– I feel pretty good, I fought all this week to be able to play in the final. Luckily I made it, Simpura commented in an interview with .
The final score was 3–1 Joonas Peuhkuri. The match remained exciting until the end, because in the final moments the people of Porvoo got a penalty kick. Joonas Kankkunen however, repelled the Porvoo team’s attempt and emerged as one of the heroes of his team.
– I pretty much knew which side it would be on. Fortunately, the ice is a bit bad, a good shot, got off well. Important booth! Kankkunen talked in the interview after the match.
The hero keeper was upset about the weather of the match event. Despite the rain, nearly 2,300 spectators came to watch the final.
– It’s a shame that the weather was like this. It would have been nice to play proper ice ball. It took a quarter of an hour to get it right, but luckily we got the necessary bounces and the championship is in Lappeenranta. Quite an empty feeling, Kankkunen commented.
The championship was already Veiterä’s second of the season, as the team also won the Finnish Cup, where they defeated JPS 6–2 in the final match.
In the Bandyliiga, the bronze match was not played at all this year, because the ice on the field was in such bad condition. The Ice Hockey Federation ended up awarding the bronze medals to both JPS and Botnia-69.