HC Erlangen loses at TSV GWD Minden

HC Erlangen lost to TSV GWD Minden by 29:22 (12:9) in its second away game of the season. The club from Franconia clawed its way back repeatedly over large stretches of the encounter, but did not produce the consistent performance it is capable of.

Erlangen got off to the poorer start. After it conceded three goals, Christoph Steinert got his team on the scoreboard in the seventh minute. The home side from Minden capitalized on a situation where it was in superior numbers in the eleventh minute to put the ball into Erlangen’s empty goal and make it 5:2. After that, Jonas Thümmler got his side back on track with a goal to make it 5:3 after a pass by Nikolai Link. The home side extended its lead to 8:4 in the 20th minute. Aðalsteinn Eyjólfsson immediately called a timeout and gave his players a pep talk for the final 10 minutes of the first half. The HC stepped up the pace again and, after being brought on, Nikolas Katsigiannis kept his team in the game with a raft of strong saves. There was a moment of shock for Erlangen in the 23rd minute: On the second wave of an attack, Nicolai Theilinger injured his leg while attempting a shot and did not return to the court. The visitors went in at half-time trailing by 12:9.

The home side produced a 3:0 run after the break. It was once again a Nikolas Katsigiannis in fine form who kept HC Erlangen in the game with his sensational stops. With its opponents short-handed, the HC reduced the deficit to three goals again. Steinert even made it 19:17. However, the visitors did not manage to reduce the gap further. GWD Minden repeated gained the upper hand and Gulliksen stretched the lead to 22:17 in the 48th minute. Link, Overby and Steinert scored three more goals, but even a more offensive variant in defense did not stop Minden’s attack. The team of captain Michael Haaß was not able to get back into the game and ended up losing by 29:22.

“The game today was naturally very frustrating. We repeatedly fought back, but didn’t play as consistently as we can,” said Aðalsteinn Eyjólfsson afterwards.