HC Kriens-Luzern reaches EHF European League group stage

Despite a weak second half against GC Amicitia Zurich, HC Kriens-Luzern secured its place in the group phase of the EHF European League.

HC Kriens-Luzern – Community

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While the guests from Central Switzerland in the Saalsporthalle had everything under control until the tea break and even went into halftime with a two-goal lead, according to a statement on their website, not much was going right for HC Kriens-Luzern after the break.

Towards the end, things even threatened to turn around, with the lead from the first leg shrinking to four points. In the end, the final whistle saved the blue and whites from being promoted to the EHF European League, in which Zeljko Musa’s band is now represented for the second time in a row.

“I’ll talk to the team about the game on Monday. But we can all be happy because we have already achieved the first of three goals for the season,” said the new HCKL head coach after the nerve-wracking affair in front of 300 spectators in Zurich’s Saalsporthalle.

An appealing start

The Zurich Grasshoppers had to tackle the national fixture with international character with a six-goal mortgage and took the lead after just 30 seconds in the warm Saalsporthalle.

There was no doubt that the Grasshoppers had faith, but the Central Swiss team quickly put a stop to that. Three minutes later, Gino Steenaerts gave the Blue-Whites their first lead, making it 3-2. After just over seven minutes, the lead was even 6-4, thanks to a goal from Ramon Schlumpf.

The supposedly last summer day of the year started almost excellently from the Krienser’s point of view, with Gino Steenaerts even increasing the score to 10:6, and at times the guests even had a five-goal lead.

Actually, everything was already decided after a quarter of the game, but the home team didn’t want to hear about it. Amicitia shifted up two gears, while the HCKL inexplicably took their foot off the accelerator. The bottom line was simple, the Swiss record champions came back to 16:18 at halftime.

A too exciting final phase

HC Kriens-Luzern was able to pull ahead by three units, but the performance was no longer the same as before half-time. 20 minutes before the end of regular time, Janus Lapajne, who is well known in Kriens, managed to equalize the score to 20.

Six movements of the big hand later, Luigj Quni put the Grasshoppers back in front, but this still didn’t cause the HCKL protagonists to get excited. The virtual lead was still five goals, with just over ten minutes left to play.

The masterful Luca Sigrist scored the 30:30 seven minutes before the siren; then the lights went out for the blue-whites, while GC started to fight back. 60 seconds before the end, Janus Lapajne made it 37:33, and the HCKL side became hectic, trying to avoid the game getting out of control.

Fortunately, that didn’t happen, but the Lucerne team was still happy when the final whistle sounded. With two goals more, the HCKL is in the group phase of the EHF European League.

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GC Amicitia ZurichGCHypothekHC Kriens-LucerneHC KriensKriens