The European Cup motivates you to achieve top performance
The handball players from HSC Kreuzlingen were able to convince against Michalovce in the European Cup, but narrowly lost to the record champions from Slovakia 24:27. The HSCK missed out on a better starting position for the second leg shortly before the end.
Even goalkeeper Kerstin Sander couldn’t prevent Kreuzlingen’s defeat against Michalove despite an outstanding performance.
Felix Walker
The Kreuzlingen handball players did the best advertising for their own cause in front of their home audience. In the first leg of the second round of the EHF European Cup they narrowly lost to MSK Iuventa Michalovce, finalist last season, 24:27 (13:14). The Kreuzlingen women showed their best performance of the season so far.
The Slovakian record champions, who were clearly favored in advance, have of course created an excellent starting position for the second leg next Saturday in front of 300 spectators in the Egelsee sports hall. However, the outsider from Thurgau has nothing to lose in Michalovce and can play without any pressure.
Sander keeps the game open with her saves
Against the physically superior Slovakians, Kristina Ertl-Hug’s team started with some respect. The HSCK was able to thank its outstanding goalkeeper Kerstin Sander for staying on equal terms with the favorites. By the 8:8 mark in the 19th minute, the former Austrian U20 national goalkeeper had already made five brilliant saves. This gave the hosts more confidence. With an intermediate spurt they even moved ahead to 12:9 (23rd). The favorite reacted violently to this deficit. And the Kreuzlingen women also handed out gifts for at least two of the four goals they conceded in a row (12:13 (25th). Goalkeeper Sander (eleven saves) and team leader Annika Blanke (4 goals) were the protagonists of the strong Kreuzlingen halftime until the score was 13:14.
Even though the Slovakians got off to a better start in the second half and took the lead with three goals, the HSCK didn’t let themselves be left behind. With some well-played goals and further saves from Sander, the Thurgau team made it 19:20 in the 44th minute. The fact that they were again three goals behind in the 59th minute despite a convincing fighting performance was due to two missed penalties.
Better starting position awarded shortly before the end
In the final seconds, the Kreuzlingen women missed a better result due to a misunderstanding, which the Slovakians coldly punished with keeper Iryna Yablonska’s long-range throw into the abandoned Kreuzlingen goal to make the final score 24:27. Instead of a one-gate mortgage, the HSCK travels to Eastern Slovakia with a three-gate mortgage. Goalkeeper Sander couldn’t really be happy about her outstanding performance with 20 saves after the game. Rather, she said: “More would have been possible.”