An ideal start – HC Erlangen celebrates first home win of the season

HC Erlangen got off to a perfect start to the new season at home in the ARENA NÜRNBERGER Versicherung on Sunday afternoon. The first-division club from Erlangen defeated VfL Gummersbach by 30:22 to pick up its first two points of the 2018/2019 campaign in front of 3,624 fans.

HC Erlangen played with zest and great motivation from the throw-off in the first 30 minutes. The club from Franconia went 6:2 ahead after just ten minutes thanks to a goal by Johannes Sellin. The lead was due in particular to its strong display in defense, which enabled the HC to repeatedly regain possession quickly and capitalize uncompromisingly on that. Dominik Mappes, who finished with six goals to his name, directed his side’s play in offense with cleverness and kept on carving out good opportunities to score for himself and his teammates. As a result, the HC led by 11:8 at one stage and went in half-time with a five-goal cushion (15:10).

After the restart, Nikolai Link and Johannes Sellin notched up goals number 16 and 17 for the HC. Gummersbach tried once more to avert the impending defeat and cut the gap to 16:13 in the 35th minute. Although HC Erlangen’s defense also did a good job in the second half, the visitors were able to create good chances. However, the VfL was repeatedly thwarted in this spell by goalkeeper Nikolas Katsigiannis, who saved 39.39 percent of all shots on his goal and so paved the way for his side’s home victory. At the latest when Stanislav Zhukov was disqualified in the 38th minute, Erlangen’s first home win of the season was no longer in danger. With five minutes remaining, the crowd in the ARENA NÜRNBERGER Versicherung could no longer be restrained. Amidst standing ovations, it celebrated the 30th and final goal of the game, scored by Nico Büdel from the backcourt.

“I’m very proud of my team’s performance. We only made few technical mistakes today, kept on creating chances to score on the basis of a stable defense, with an outstanding Nikolas Katsigiannis in goal, and also exploited those chances uncompromisingly,” said a delighted Head Coach Aðalsteinn Eyjólfsson about his team’s fine all-round display.