Olympiacos continued its winning streak in the Greek League, beating Panathinaikos 15:12 in the first match of the playoffs final.
The match remained competitive until the final minutes, even though Panathinaikos took the lead only in the early stages of the game, 2:0. Olympiacos then responded with a 4:0 run. Panathinaikos went without a goal for over nine minutes. But soon after Nikolaidis scored to make it 4:2, the visitors netted two more goals, leveling at 4:4. They equalized once again at 5:5 late in the second period. However, Olympiacos still controlled everything in the pool. The hosts went to “+3” for the first time midway through the third period, when Konstantinos Kakaris scored from a close-range shot (9:6).
Early in the fourth period, the reigning champion rebuilt a 3-goal lead (11:8 and 12:9). But, the contest was not over yet. Skoumpakis cut the deficit to one (11:12) by converting a penalty shot with 03:16 minutes remaining on the clock. Still, Danial Angyal answered with two goals, killing all suspense. Pouros added one for 15:11. Skoumpakis converted a man-up in Panathinaikos’s final possession to reduce the gap to three and become the best scorer of the game with four goals.
2026 Greek League, final (best of five), Game 1
Olympiacos – Panathinaikos 15:12 (3:2, 3:3, 4:3, 5:4)
Olympiacos: Kakaris 3, Genidounias 2, Angyal 2, Zalanki 2, Papanastasiou 2, Gkillas 1, Dimou 1, Nikolaidis 1, Pouros 1.
Panathinaikos: Skoumpakis 4, Gkiouvetsis 3, Papanikolaou 2, Kopelaidis 1, Kourovanis 1
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