By: Nicole Parallag
The Philippines capped off its historic 2024 IFF Men’s World Floorball Championships campaign in style, securing its best-ever finish with a dramatic 9-8 overtime victory over Poland.
The thrilling win on Friday at the Baltic Hall in Malmö, Sweden, earned the Nationals 11th place in the tournament.
In the same venue where they had previously secured their two wins during the group stage, Rhodell Esguerra wasted no time, delivering the winning goal just three seconds into the overtime period. His goal completed a remarkable comeback for the Philippines.
Down by two at 6-8, Simon Sicat Laraño ignited the rally by scoring and then assisting Lucas Werelius on the equalizer, which set up Esguerra’s heroics.
“I think I can speak for the whole team when I say we played our hearts out and left everything we had on the floor,” said Lucas Hemmingberg Porral, who finished the match with four points—three goals and an assist. “That mindset, combined with the feeling of having nothing to lose and everything to win, helped me step up and provide the team with three goals.”
The Nationals’ fightback was crucial after facing a significant run from Poland in the second period.
The sequence was reminiscent of their two earlier losses in the knockout round to Latvia (3-14) and Denmark (2-10).
The Europeans stretched their lead with goals from Lucas Dahlstrom and Kacper Skura, putting Poland up 7-2 early in the second period.
(C) IFF International Floorball Federation/Viktor Källberg
However, the Filipinos quickly found their footing.
Melvin Alm Mendoza redeemed himself for a missed penalty shot with a goal off Esguerra’s assist.
Porral then scored twice and assisted on a Werelius goal, bringing the Philippines to within one, 6-7.
Skura later restored Poland’s two-goal advantage with a power-play goal off a Kim Varga penalty.
But that would be the last stand for the Europeans, as Sicat Laraño worked his magic in the closing minutes of regulation.
“(It was) amazing. To pull this off on the biggest stage and show our fellow countrymen that anything is possible means the world to us,” Porral added.
Earlier in the tournament, the Philippines had already made history by securing its first-ever appearance in The World Games Floorball tournament, being the only Asia-Oceania (AOC) side to enter the playoffs, making them the top team from the region in the Championships.
“We had a bad start, but we said this was our last game of the tournament, so we would give everything we could,” said team captain Lucas Enaje. “It’s important to show those who aren’t here today that fighting all the way is what matters, and that’s what we call the ‘Laban spirit.’ When we’re down, we crawl up as a team.”
Enaje added, “So, when we made the turnaround, it was historic in many ways. We’re the best-qualified team outside of Europe, and this is the first time an AOC team has beaten a European team. We achieved so many goals in this tournament.”
