Vistorop and Spikic give halftime lead
Eisenach started the game well and took the lead for the first time through Peter Walz in the fifth minute. As a result, the defense around goalkeeper Matija Pikic was good, but the Thuringians missed a few good opportunities up front. Nevertheless, Eisenach pulled away to 7:3 after five goals from Filip Spikic (14th). But within 80 seconds, Misha Kaufmann’s team made three misses, conceded three goals and lost their comfortable lead. The coach took a timeout and shook his boys awake. They didn’t concede a goal for over six minutes, but they weren’t efficient themselves either. Only in the 28th minute did a 3-0 run provide a good cushion for the superior Eisenacher team (13:9). Göppingen couldn’t get the hosts under control in seven-on-six situations and were almost happy with the four-goal deficit at the break.
Merchant’s wish comes true
The home team came out of the locker room efficiently and with a big chest. And now the efficiency was also right. After a 4-0 run, ThSV pulled away to 19:11 (35th minute) and Ben Matschke had to take a timeout early on. But that didn’t turn things around either, Philipp Meyer hit the empty goal for the fourth time, Vistorop followed up and the score was 21:11 (38th). Kaufmann now rotated a bit, but his team didn’t let up, Göppingen showed signs of dissolution against the extremely strong Wartburgstadt team.
In the 46th minute, the ThSV coach took a time out, appealed to his team’s mentality and made an unusual announcement: “I want to win here with ten or fifteen goals.” And his team did him a favor with a goal from Fynn Hangstein two seconds before the end. In the end, Vistorop had eleven goals, Meyer seven, and national player Marko Grgic scored five times. Spikic made 16 saves and stopped over 40 percent of his shots.
