KP Brno beats Žabiny Brno; Banged-up mmcité+ Brno struggles again; Zbrojovka rallies to finish first half of season well; and the Brno sports schedule. Photo: Lasy [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Brno, Dec 6 (BD) – Jan Süss, an 18-year-old, scored all three goals on Tuesday night as Kometa tied JYP Jyväskylä, 3-3, in Finland in the first game of their quarterfinal series of the Hockey Champions League.
“Obviously I’m very happy,” Süss said after the game. “You don’t score a hat trick every day, and this was for the A team.”
Süss, who has never even appeared in a Tipsport extraliga game, scored in the sixth, eighth and 37th minutes. Click here for the highlights.
Kometa had a five-minute power play in the third period where they were unable to get a decent shot. JYP Jyväskylä tied the game in the final minutes of the game.
The second game in the quarterfinal home-and-home series is next Tuesday. Kometa will host JYP Jyväskylä with a 5:30 p.m. start.
Kometa had another rough week in the Tipsport extraliga. They lost to visiting Oceláři Třinec 2-3 on Wednesday and then, after a scoreless regulation and overtime, lost in the shootout at Mountfield HK on Sunday. They have won only one of their last eight games. They resume play at home against Mladá Boleslav on Friday at 6 p.m.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
KP Brno Dominate Game 1 of Brno Rivalry
KP Brno played an aggressive game to beat Žabiny Brno, 70-47, on Saturday in Žabovřesky to take the mantle as the best women’s basketball team in Brno.
KP Brno (8-3) took control in the second quarter when they held Žabiny to just five points, 5-17. They had a 19-35 halftime lead and never looked back. Edita Šujanová led KP Brno and the game with 16 points.
Žabiny Brno (7-5), which has been hampered by injuries, had trouble with the KP Brno defense throughout the game, shooting just 16 of 50 from 2-point range and 2 of 10 from 3-point range. KP Brno also won the battle under the basket, outrebounding Žabiny, 56-29.
Last year, these two Brno rivals split the regular-season series, with each team winning league games on the road. They play again on the last weekend of this regular season — St. Patrick’s Day, Saturday, March 17.
Both teams lost in international play on Wednesday. KP Brno finished their participation in the EuroCup with a 1-5 record after losing to Venezia, 51-76. Basket Žabiny Brno lost to visiting Olimpia CSU Brasov, 82-98, in the Central Europe Women’s League, despite 27 points from Natalie Stoupalová.
On Sunday, Technic Brno (2-9) got off to a solid start in its home game against BA Karlovy Vary (3-7), but they couldn’t keep the momentum in the second half and lost, 72-78. Tereza Zítková led Technic with 17 points. Renáta Zrůstová missed only a few shots en route to a solid 12 points.
The ZBL has reached its halfway point and teams will now meet each other for the second time. BK Brno has it tough because they will host league-leader ZVVZ USK Praha on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. and second-place BLK Slavia Praha on Dec. 16 at 3:30 p.m.
Žabiny have a week off, then play Slovanka MB on Dec. 16 at 4 p.m.
Technic Brno has two very important games. They host last-place U19 Chance on Sunday at 5 p.m. and then travel to fellow two-win team SBŠ Ostrava on Dec. 17 for a 4 p.m. game. Technic Brno beat both teams at the beginning of the season and has not won since.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Weakened mmcité+ Brno Fails Against Olomoucko
mmcité+ Brno has started many games slowly, made comebacks and then fallen short. Against Olomoucko on Saturday, Brno, which was without two injured starters, made a concerted effort to play aggressively early. It worked, mostly, in the first quarter. Then it didn’t in the second quarter. mmcité+ Brno eventually lost, 63-94.
Significantly, Brian Sullivan and Radek Pumprla missed the game with injuries. Sullivan is second in the league with a 21.8-point-per-game average. Jan Kozina, who was called on to replace Sullivan, led the team with 23 points. Zdeněk Nehyba was 4-for-8 from 3-point range for 14 total points in place of Pumprla.
mmcité+ Brno (3-7) was outscored, 31-12, by Olomoucko (5-5) in the second quarter and trailed, 27-51, at halftime.
Earlier in the week, mmcité+ Brno failed to complete a comeback at BK JIP Pardubice and lost, 94-68, on Thursday. Jan Tomanec led the team with 21 points.
mmcité+ Brno hits the road on Saturday to play BC GEOSAN Kolín. Both teams have only three wins on the season. Their first meeting was on live national television as the opening game of the Kooperativa NBL in early October; mmcité+ Brno won, 64-61.
On Saturday, Dec. 16, mmcité+ Brno returns home to host SLUNETA Ústí nad Labem at 6 p.m.
MEN’S FOOTBALL
Zbrojovka Ties Zlin, Enters Winter Break on 7-point Run
Martin Zikl, an exciting young striker, scored his first HET Liga goal to put Zbrojovka on the board against visiting Zlin on a frigid Saturday, but, even with a one-man advantage, Brno eventually had to settle for a 1-1 tie.
Zikl, who starred with the junior Zbrojovka teams, came off the bench for the first time in the home victory over Teplice on Nov. 18. He started in the 2-0 victory at Jihlava on Nov. 24 and on Saturday against Zlin. He scored in the 32nd minute when he gathered a rebound off of a defender and smashed it just inside the near post.
Zlin was more offensively active in the second half. They had numerous dangerous shots on goal. Brno captain Dušan Melichárek stopped several of them and a powerful bicycle-kick shot by Dame Diop slammed off of the right post.
A second yellow card for a Zlin’s Ondřej Bačo gave Zbrojovka the advantage, but Brno’s ace defender Francisco Chico Gomes was injured and then Zlin substitute Mirzad Mehanovič finally got a Zlin shot past Melichárek in the 84th minute. It was only the second goal that Zbrojovka had allowed in five games.
Zbrojovka finished the first half of the HET Liga season in 12th place with a 4-3-9 record and 15 points through 16 games. They were 2-1-0 for seven points in the last three games.
“Fifteen points after the autumn are comfortable,” said Brno head coach Roman Pivarník, “even though a win today was within reach.”
MFK Karviná (4-2-10, 14 points) is 13th, 1.FC Slovácko (2-6-8, 12 points) is 14th, FC Baník Ostrava (2-5-9, 11 points) is 15th, and FC Vysočina Jihlava (3-1-12, 10 points) is last in the 16-team league. The bottom two teams will be relegated to a lower league at the end of the season in June.
One positive that Zborjovka can hold onto is that their schedule is slightly in their favor during the second half of the season. They have home games against most of the top teams, including Olomouc (third), Slavia Praha (second), and Viktoria Plzeň (first). They will also host Karviná (13th), Mladá Boleslav (11th) and Jihlava (16th).
Zbrojovka plays on the road against Bohemians 1905 (seventh), Sparta Praha (fifth), Liberec (fourth), Slovácko (14th), Dukla Praha (10th), Teplice (sixth) and, on the final day of the season, Baník Ostrava (15th).
HET Liga play resumes on the third weekend of February, on or around Feb. 17. Zbrojovka starts at Bohemians 1905. Their first home game is on or around Feb. 24 when they host Olomouc. Precise dates and times will be announced.
BRNO SPORTS RESULTS
Quick results for various Brno professional and recreational sports for the past week. Home team listed first (when applicable).
Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2017
— Hockey: Kometa 2, Oceláři Třinec 3
— Women’s Basketball (EuroCup): KP Brno 51, Venezia 76
— Women’s Basketball (CEWL): Basket Žabiny Brno 82, Olimpia CSU Brasov 98
Thursday, Nov. 30, 2017
— Men’s Basketball: BK JIP Pardubice 94, mmcité+ Brno 68
Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017
— Men’s Football: Zbrojovka Brno 1, Zlin 1
— Women’s Basketball: Žabiny Brno 47, KP Brno 70
— Men’s Basketball: mmcité+ Brno 63, Olomoucko 94
Sunday, Dec. 3, 2017
— Hockey: Mountfield HK 1, Kometa 0 (overtime shootout)
— Women’s Basketball: Technic Brno 72, BA K. Vary 78
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Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017
— Hockey (Champions League, quarterfinals): JYP Jyväskylä 3, Kometa 3
BRNO SPORTS SCHEDULE
The schedule for various Brno professional and recreational sports for the next two weeks. All dates and times subject to change. Home team listed first (when applicable).
Thursday, Dec. 7, 2017
— Women’s Basketball (CEWL): Flying Foxes SVP Post X Basket Žabiny Brno, 7 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 8, 2017
— Hockey: Kometa X Ml. Boleslav, 6 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 9, 2017
— Men’s Basketball: GEOSAN Kolín X mmcité+ Brno, 5:45 p.m.
— Women’s Basketball: KP Brno X ZVVZ USK Praha, 3:30 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017
— Women’s Basketball: Technic Brno X U19 Chance, 5 p.m.
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Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017
— Hockey (Champions League, quarterfinals): Kometa X JYP Jyväskylä, 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 16, 2017
— Men’s Basketball: mmcité+ Brno X SLUNETA Ústí nad Labem, 6 p.m.
— Women’s Basketball: KP Brno X BLK Slavia Praha, 3:30 p.m.
— Women’s Basketball: Žabiny Brno X Slovanka MB, 4 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 17, 2017
— Women’s Basketball: SBŠ Ostrava X Technic Brno, 4 p.m.
The Brno Sports Report is published every Wednesday. All dates and times are subject to change. Most of the stories are about the traditional “English-speaking” team sports — football, hockey, baseball, basketball, American football, rugby, etc. — but it is also about the interesting local spectator and participation sports — tennis, badminton, running, horse racing, swimming, rock climbing, biking, etc. If you have any suggestions for what should be included, please comment below or send an email to brnosports@gmail.com.
