Erlangen draws with Lübbecke

The Franconian first-division club had set its sights high and the tension could be cut with a knife going into the game against TuS Lübbecke. Head Coach Aðalsteinn Eyjólfsson, who began with Michael Haaß in the center position, had spoken a lot about stronger offense before the encounter and Haaß in particular displayed his throwing power in the opening minutes. In Erlangen’s strong opening spell, the visitors from Eastern Westphalia repeatedly countered with goals from the backcourt. Lübbecke tied the scores at 6:6 midway through the first half. After that, mistakes crept into the home side’s play as it built its moves and Lübbecke exploited them. As a consequence, HC Erlangen went in at half-time trailing by 9:11.

The visitors got off to the much better start after the break and were able to stretch their lead from two to four goals in the space of a few minutes. Eyjolfsson now put Martin Stranovsky in the center position and the Slovakian player helped get HC Erlangen back into the game with his eye and speed. With ten minutes to go, HC Erlangen equalized and even went ahead of TuS. In a highly dramatic closing spell, HC Erlangen had chances to decide the encounter in its favor, but was not able to take them. In the end, the game between HC Erlangen and TuS N-Lübbecke finished in a 22:22 draw.