HC Linz AG’s 32:29 (15:15) home win over former handball champion Krems on Saturday sent a clear message before the top four in the table chose their quarter-final opponents from places five to eight: HC Linz (6 .) makes your life difficult. “The team, every single one, played really well. We were the better team,” congratulated sporting director Klemens Kainmüller.
Although the usual suspects set the tone on the top scorer side with Lucijan Fizuleto (ten goals) and Tobias Cvetko (nine) at HC, David Zwicklhuber was named man of the match. The 21-year-old, who is actually number two in the Linz goal behind Markus Bokesch, became the match winner once morest Krems with 13 saves. “It was unbelievable, the boys played a great defence, everyone gave 120 percent,” the army athlete politely passed on the praise to his colleagues.
Hermann celebrated a comeback
On Saturday, those colleagues finally included Max Hermann once more, who celebrated a comeback almost seven months following an operation on his heel. “I was really nervous, you might probably tell,” said the 30-year-old with a smile following his first game in the completely renovated home arena in Linz-Kleinmünchen. It was unusual to be absent for so long.
The return of the captain comes at a good time, as the cup quarter-finals at home once morest Bregenz (7 p.m.) are on the program on Wednesday, which is stylized as the “game of the year” within the club. If they make it into the Final Four, the people of Linz will apply to host it for the first time. “We want to get into the Final Four,” said Zwicklhuber. The third-placed league player from Vorarlberg is the favourite, but the young goalkeeper sees things a little differently: “They’re my favorite opponents because I’ve played well once morest them before.” And a strong goalie performance will probably be needed for a surprise.