HC Erlangen loses to HSG Wetzlar

HC Erlangen lost its game on the road against HSG Wetzlar on Sunday afternoon by 25:31 (18:18). After a turbulent first half, in which a total of 36 goals were scored, Erlangen was not able to get back into the game in the second 30 minutes and finally went down despite the vociferous support of its fans. HC Erlangen aims to go on the attack again in a week’s time, when SC DHfK Leipzig visits the ARENA.

Despite the defeat against Kiel at home in the ARENA NÜRNBERGER Versicherungen, the professionals of HC Erlangen went into the encounter against HSG Wetzlar brimming with confidence – after all, they had put up a great fight against the club that holds a record number of German titles. And the HCE wanted to repeat that performance against Wetzlar. Three goals were scored in the first 50 seconds, with Nikolai Link and Petter Overby putting their side 2:1 ahead. Erlangen survived its first time penalty unscathed after just two minutes and even went 4:2 in front thanks to Overby and Jan Schäffer. The visitors had to take a short breather in the seventh minute with the score at 6:4 in their favor after Quentin Minel was elbowed in the face and had to be treated. The Frenchman exacted revenge for that right away in his way to make it 7:4 with the opposing side short-handed. That was followed by two goals in a row, when Link and Sellin made it 9:6. A striking aspect in this spell was that Erlangen stepped up the pace and attacked more over the wings, which resulted in it taking a 10:8 lead. Then Wetzlar caught up and went 11:10 ahead, forcing the HCE’s Head Coach Aðalsteinn Eyjólfsson to call his first timeout. Sellin promptly scored his second seven-meter penalty to equalize. An end-to-end affair in which both teams traded blows then ensued, in which Sime Ivic was particularly impressive, scoring five goals up to the 27th minute. Carsten Lichtlein, who has been brought on to replace Nikolas Katsigiannis, also pulled off two magnificent saves. Nevertheless, the two teams went in at half-time with the scores tied at 18:18.

The second half did not start well for Erlangen and Wetzlar led by two after just one minute, also because Sellin missed his first seven-meter penalty. Wetzlar improved bit by bit and Erlangen’s problems became apparent: It failed to take its chances and was no longer resolute enough in defense. “Wetzlar did a good job. It has a strong keeper behind a strong defense,” said Head Coach Eyjólfsson, who did not forget to praise the fine support from the fans. “They tried to get behind us, but it wasn’t to be.” Despite the fact that luck was not on its side, the club from Franconia tried all it could in the second half, but finally succumbed to a 25:31 defeat. “We have to learn from this defeat and take positives away from it,” said Eyjólfsson looking to the future. HC Erlangen has six games in December and is now looking ahead – after all, the positive thing about a tight schedule is that slips can be corrected quickly.

The next opportunity for HC Erlangen to do that is against Leipzig on December 8.

www.hc-erlangen.de