For their entry into the 2024-2025 French Cup, the Eagles faced Villard-de-Lans. A match that was supposed to be a formality but turned out to be more complex than expected.
Three days after the end of their challenging campaign in the championship against Grenoble, the Nice Eagles were back on the ice. In the round of 16, the team from the Azur region had an appointment with a Division 1 club, one level below the Ligue Magnus. Villard-de-Lans, a mid-table club from Isère in their competition, should not have constituted too big an obstacle for Frantisek Stolc’s men. However, this match quickly turned into a trap.
Unable to score in the first period, the Nice team was caught off guard by the Finnish player Niko Kuivaniemi (1-0). Five minutes later, another Finn scored, but this time for the Eagles. Well assisted by Taavi Tiala and Hugo Proux, Leevi Karjalainen took charge with a power-play goal (1-1). Once back to even strength, Villard regained the lead thanks to Nicola Domitrovic (2-1). The Isère team held onto this lead until the end of the second period. The final part of the match promised to be intense.
Nice pressed on but struggled to find a solution. It would finally take until the 53rd minute with a brace from Leevi Karjalainen to relieve the Maralpins. In the following play, Nice finally took the lead thanks to Joseph Broutin. This was his first goal of the season.
The teammates of Marc André Lévesque thus qualified for the quarterfinals with difficulty (2-3). The essential was secured. Now they will have to return to battle against Grenoble for a rematch. This time, the Eagles will benefit from the support of their fans at the Jean Bouin ice rink. Kick-off is Friday, October 25th at 8 p.m.
