Pixbo's coach won his third straight gold medal: "Magical"

Pixbo Wallenstam won the B18 final over Warberg with 5-4 after an amazing game. It was the club's third straight title in the B18 category in the Gothia Innebandy Cup. The coach Oscar Zarnowiecki ended his time as a Gothia Innebandy Cup coach in the best way.

Oscar Zarnowiecki was noticeably moved after the triumph. It was his last Gothia Innebandy Cup as coach of the team and he had to finish with the third straight title.
– It's magical, he says.

After the 5-4 victory in Partille Arena, the match winner Jakob Heins says that they played for Oscar Zarnowiecki in the final.
– It was our coach's last Gothia Innebandy Cup, so we won for him, says Jakob Heins.
Oscar Zarnowiecki showed a lot of emotions and tears flowed as he was embraced by the boys and received yet another gold medal in the Gothia Innebandy Cup.
– The third straight victory in the B18 class means everything, I would say. The boys get to win when they put in so much time and effort and the leaders really get a receipt that what we're doing in Pixbo's academy is the right way to go right now, he says.

Why do you think you are so successful?
– First and foremost because of the structure we have in our academy, with the type of leaders we have. We've parents who stand up and do things and players who are completely humble and willing to put in the work it takes to stay at the top. This was my last Gothia Innebandy Cup. Now I will pass the baton to someone else.
A decent ending in other words?
– It is absolutely fantastic. Now we have a JAS gold which we will hopefully defend in April as well.
How will you celebrate this?
– The boys will choose that. On a day like this, they choose everything. First of all, we should find Warberg and thank them for giving us a really tough match. They were fantastic. It was a well played final, it was really fun to see Warberg. It's a big club that you have to respect, but they haven't been in many finals lately. It warmed my old Pixbo heart to be able to play a tough final against Warberg again. I myself had hard battles against Warberg as a player, says Oscar Zarnowiecki.

He was touched after the final.
– I'm very emotional. The leaders and players become like a family. We have fought together during the pandemic, when it was twelve degrees below zero and we were not allowed to be more than eight people. We stood outside with snow up to our knees and ran and parents shoveled snow. Now we got to follow it up with this, it's magical.
Pixbo Wallenstam won despite the fact that the key player William Andersson got injured during the last and most important match of the tournament.
– Yes, William pulled the back of his thigh. He's been the most important player throughout the tournament and carried us on his shoulders. It wasn't really unexpected that his thigh would get injured in the final. It was sad but we have a strong group and we lift each other up. There were others who stepped forward, such as Joel Lindberg. He was born in 2008 and came on and made the assist to the decisive goal. We have players who are ready when needed, says Oscar Zarnowiecki.