Mikko Hautaniemi, who played the last match of his career, scored the winning goal in the overtime.
TPS celebrates the first Finnish men’s championship in club history. Esa Takalo / Floorball Association
Turku Palloseura is the men’s floorball Finnish champion for the year 2023.
TPS won the thriller-like seventh final in the overtime 3–2 against Nokian KrP.
The drama arc was unbelievable. Also played in the national team Mikko Hautaniemi scored a goal in the last match of his career that decided the championship.
KrP led the final series at its best with 3–1 wins, but TPS won three matches in a row.
The decisive final match played in the legendary Hakametsä Ice Hall gathered 5,100 spectators in the stands.
Both organizations have been working hard for almost a decade. In the spring of 2015, they met each other in the playout series. TPS was stronger in the relegation series, but KrP also kept its league position that spring.
Thanks to the financial investments, but especially the significant junior and coaching work, both clubs have catapulted themselves to the sharpest top in the country.
Now TPS celebrated the first Finnish men’s championship in club history. For KrP, the SM silver was the second in a row.
The defenders’ gunfire
Olli Laine vented with emotion after his terrible fight. Esa Takalo / Floorball Association
In the opening set of the stoppage final, the net swung only once.
Living in a new spring in his career Olli Laine got the ball to the right. The defender alerted the movers behind and fired a ferocious shot into the back top corner. The hit was Lainee’s tenth in this spring’s playoffs.
If you don’t see the video of the goal below, you can watch it from this link.
KrP was stronger with the ball in the second half as well, but TPS defended with great heart in their own end. The Nokia team’s shots stopped either in the block or the goalkeeper Oskari to Fälden.
Then Tepsi hit. The prototype of a basic defender Janne Nurminen received the ball from a corner kick into Pak’s area and sent a wrist shot into the upper corner. KrP guard Miro Tuomala couldn’t see the itch behind the mask. Nurminen’s 2–0 goal came in the middle of the second period.
The visitors withstood the pressure of Hakametsä’s hosts even to the end of the second 20 minutes and reached the third period with a two-goal lead.
On to the sequel
Joonatan Kovanen brought KrP level in the third set. Esa Takalo / Floorball Association
However, Fälden’s scoreless game was broken immediately at the beginning of the three-set. The clock only had time to run for 15 seconds when Mikko Laakso directed a low shot from in front of the goal into the net.
For 40 minutes, TPS was even better involved in the game, but KrP found a new gear in their play in the triple set. At the same time, TPS became passive.
The zipper at the bottom operated on Friday Joonatan Kovanen finally got the cursor to the right address in 52.06. The long-range wrist shot sank just under the top bar, and the thriller situation changed to 2-2.
TPS survived the rotation without further setbacks, and the championship went to be decided in the overtime.
The best place in the next round was the TPS center Ville Hirsuo, who was able to try at close range after a superior attack. Tuomala, however, stretched out his hand handsomely in front of him.
Next, the black and white team struck. Laine delivered to the back post, and Hautaniemi guided TPS’s winning goal in 70.22.
Hautaniemi slapped his hands on his face and soon got the whole team around him to celebrate.