HC ERLANGEN LOSES 30:24 ON THE ROAD AT TVB STUTTGART

Erlangen suffered a 30:24 defeat in Stuttgart on Thursday evening. Trailing by four goals, the HCE clawed its way back to reduce the deficit to one at the start of the second half, but was then not able to pose any danger to the TVB. Too many squandered chances, coupled with overly passive defending, prevented the visitors from rewarding their numerous fans who had made the journey with an away victory.

The two keepers stamped their mark on the game in the opening minutes, with both Katsigiannis and German international Jogi Bitter saving the first shots. The home side then scored the first goal of the evening, but Nikolai Link struck back right away to tie the encounter at 1:1 on a fast break. The club from Franconia kept its cool with a man more on court and, after a pass by Bissel, Sime Ivic scored for the first time to put his side 3:2 ahead. Nico Büdel, who won a seven-meter penalty with his side short-handed, paved the way for von Gruchalla to put the HC in front again (4:3 in the 9th minute). In the next four minutes, Erlangen committed too many mistakes in building its moves, with the result that Markotic scored three goals in a row to give Stuttgart a 7:4 advantage. After 20 minutes of play, Haaß got his side back within striking distance with a plucky goal on a fast break to make it 10:8, but Erlangen’s defense was far from as steadfast as it was in the recent game against Balingen, with the result that Stuttgart pulled 16:12 in front by half-time.

After the break Michael Haaß, who finished with a total haul of six goals, cut the gap to 16:13 and the HC’s defense also seemed to be more compact to begin with. Carsten Lichtlein was brought on and made two saves in succession, allowing Firnhaber and von Gruchalla to close the deficit to 16:15 in the 36th minute. In a fast-paced encounter characterized by a large number of technical mistakes, the home side kept on finding gaps in Erlangen’s defensive ranks and so was able to quickly move four goals in front again (19:15). The HC displayed a far greater presence in offense than in the first half. However, Erlangen’s shots repeatedly landed in the hands of the in-form Jogi Bitter, who appeared insuperable on Thursday evening. The stalwart between the posts prevented the club from Franconia from posing any further threat to his side and ensured that Stuttgart managed to pull further and further in front from 22:19 to 26:20 and then 28:22. Since HC Erlangen was not able to follow up on its strong defensive display against Balingen and won too few tussles, TVB Stuttgart went on to win 30:24.

“We didn’t manage today to match our strong fighting display in the encounter against Balingen. We have to improve in our next game against Ludwigshafen, especially in defense, and again defend with passion and aggression,” was the post mortem by Kevin Schmidt, Sporting Director of HC Erlangen. The HC now faces Ludwigshafen Owls at home in the ARENA NÜRNBERGER Versicherung next Thursday.