The favorites have confirmed their status! The top four teams of the regular season are all present in the semi-finals. The leading team from Rouen will face the fourth-ranked team from Bordeaux, while the second-place team from Grenoble will host the third-placed team from Angers starting this Friday. Meanwhile, let’s look back at the clashes in these quarter-finals.
Rouen 4-2 Amiens
Defeated last season in the quarter-finals by these same Amiens Gothiques four games to three, the Rouen Dragons got their revenge by winning 4-2 and securing a spot in the Synerglace Ligue Magnus semi-finals.
Rouen and Amiens went through all kinds of emotions in this Plains derby. Winners of the regular season, the Dragons continued their momentum by achieving a shutout in the first match, with a score of 5-0 at Lacroix Island. Macmillan Carruth started with a shutout, making 37 saves. The second match was disrupted with a delay of over an hour at kickoff. After suspense, young Virgile Gauffriau equalized for both teams with a successful penalty shot. The leader didn’t want any doubt, and came back strong at the Coliseum with another clean sheet from the Rouen goalkeeper, with 18 shots saved and a score of 4-0. Despite their 8th place finish and four losses in the first phase matches, the Gothiques didn’t give up and came back to tie the series at two wins each with a 4-2 victory. After a defeat, the Normans always played a very good match following it in this series. After a balanced first period, Tomas Simonsen’s teammates, the leading point scorer of the series with 7 points, didn’t give their counterparts any chance for an 8-1 success. Despite an excellent Taran Kozun with 52 saves, Rouen qualified for the semi-finals in the next match, with a first-shot overtime winner by Alexandre Lavoie. Macmillan Carruth was the best goalkeeper at the end of these quarter-finals with an efficiency of 95.93%.
Top scorer of the series: Tomas Simonsen with 7 points
Match details:
- March 13 – Game 1: Rouen 5-0 Amiens (2-0; 1-0; 2-0)
- March 14 – Game 2: Rouen 1-2 SO Amiens (1-1; 0-0; 0-0; 0-0; 1-1)
- March 17 – Game 3: Amiens 0-4 Rouen (0-1; 0-2; 0-1)
- March 18 – Game 4: Amiens 4-2 Rouen (1-0; 1-2; 2-0)
- March 21 – Game 5: Rouen 8-1 Amiens (1-1; 4-0; 3-0)
- March 23 – Game 6: Amiens 1-2 OT Rouen (1-1; 0-0; 0-0)
Photo credits: Vincent Bréon
Grenoble 4-1 Briançon
Eleven years since the Briançon Red Devils last qualified for the playoffs, eleven years since they last won a match at this stage of the competition. They didn’t make it to the semi-finals but managed to win a game, with a score of 4-1 against the reigning French champions, Grenoble.
It has been a long time since Briançon had such a good season. To the extent of having two representatives at the Trophy ceremony, Griffen Outhouse named the best goalkeeper of the season, and Pierre Bergeron, coach of the year in the Synerglace Ligue Magnus, elected by his peers. The former was immediately needed, making 42 saves. However, he couldn’t prevent his team from losing 3-0. Matija Pintaric achieved a shutout with 30 saves. The second game was much tighter, with the Loups’ captain Sacha Treille delivering in overtime thanks to a powerplay. Making their return to the playoffs, Briançon collected their first point in the series to make it 2-1 with a very lively match and nine goals, 6-3, in game 3. Following this defeat, the Grenoblois were revitalized and ended their quarter-finals perfectly. Against Briançon, they dominated with a 6-0 victory. Matija Pintaric confirmed his 95.54% efficiency over 6 games with a shutout on 26 saves. Despite Briançon opening the score in the 5th game, the Isérois had two strong final periods to win 5-1. With a goal and an assist in the last game, François Beauchemin was the top scorer of the confrontation with eight points.
Top scorer of the series: François Beauchemin with 8 points
Match details:
- March 13 – Game 1: Grenoble 3-0 Briançon (0-0; 1-0; 2-0)
- March 14 – Game 2: Grenoble 3-2 OT Briançon (0-1; 1-1; 1-0; 1-0)
- March 17 – Game 3: Briançon 6-3 Grenoble (1-1; 2-1; 3-1)
- March 18 – Game 4: Briançon 0-6 Grenoble (0-2; 0-2; 0-2)
- March 21 – Game 5: Grenoble 5-1 Briançon (0-1; 2-0; 3-0)
Photo credit: Fabien Baldino
Angers 4-2 Nice
Coming back from 3-0 to 3-2, the Niçois believed in this incredible comeback when leading 2-0 late in the third period of game 6! However, led by an excellent Olivier Archambault, the Angevins qualified for the final four, as they have done in four of the last five seasons.
Eleven is the number of points earned by Olivier Archambault in these quarter-finals. No player has done better in the last five seasons. He simply shined in the six games played by the Ducs d’Angers. He delivered two assists for Angers’ 3-2 victory in the first game. Nice thought they had the overtime in the second game at the Angers IceParc, but the Canadian got them back with a goal and an assist. Angers won 2-0 with a goalless net by Jacob Smith with 22 shots saved. In their stride, the Angers goalkeeper achieved another shutout in the 3-0 victory at Jean Bouin. While everything seemed to be going well for Jonathan Paredes’ men with a three-game lead, the tide turned against them against a resilient Niçois side. Jordan Mugnier scored in overtime for a 3-2 score in game 4. The Aigles fully recovered by beating Angers 4-3 in the following game. Back in Nice, the 6th of the regular season was on track to force a game 7 by leading 2-0 early on. But Olivier Archambault intervened with two goals and an assist for a final 3-2 victory.
Top scorer of the series: Olivier Archambault with 11 points
Match details:
- March 13 – Game 1: Angers 3-2 Nice (2-1; 0-1; 1-0)
- March 14 – Game 2: Angers 2-0 Nice (0-0; 0-0; 2-0)
- March 17 – Game 3: Nice 0-3 Angers (0-0; 0-1; 0-2)
- March 18 – Game 4: Nice 3-2 OT Angers (1-1; 0-1; 1-0; 1-0)
- March 21 – Game 5: Angers 3-4 Nice (1-1; 2-3; 0-0)
- March 23 – Game 6: Nice 2-3 Angers (2-0; 0-0; 0-3)
Photo credit: Ducs d’Angers
Bordeaux 4-1 Marseille
4-3 in 2023-2024, 4-2 in 2024-2025, 4-1 this season! For the third consecutive season, the Bordeaux Boxers eliminated the Marseille Spartiates in the quarter-finals and qualified for the final four. The Marseillais were not rewarded in this encounter, taking only one game despite five tightly contested matches.
It has become a playoff classic in the Synerglace Ligue Magnus. Since their integration into the elite in 2023, the Spartiates have always qualified for the quarter-finals, but have always faced the Boxers. The two teams know each other well and have shown it during these five matches with very close encounters. The tone was set in game 1 on Friday, March 13th. Trailing 2-0, the Provençaux came back to 2-2 at the end of the final period. Boxers’ iconic captain, Loïk Poudrier, scored the first point with the only penalty shot. Still at Mériadeck, the Aquitains struggled against a well-inspired Libor Kasik. But once again, the match eventually turned in favor of the home team with three goals in the last ten minutes. Quentin Papillon had a shutout with 23 saves. Playing at home, the Marseillais wanted to secure the first point. They did everything to lead on three occasions! But on the first shot of overtime, Tommy Giroux gave Bordeaux a three-game lead. Luc Tardif’s men didn’t leave empty-handed, winning game 4 with a score of 2-1. However, it was not enough to turn the tide. The Girondins won by the same score with two powerplay goals by Baptiste Bruche and Quentin Tomasino to qualify for the semi-finals.
