HSG Albstadt gets a practice day

In the end, a 28:37 loss was glaring on the scoreboard from HSG’s perspective. “In my opinion, a few goals are too high,” said coach Andreas Wendel. “There is no doubt that the Willstätt victory was deserved, but in the end we tried everything again and took a risk. Otherwise it would have been a four or five goal difference.”

Guests fall behind early

But first things first: The people of Albstadt had a hard time at first after the long journey on Friday afternoon. Willstätt led early with 4:1, only Thomann couple netted for the Blacks and Reds, which ensured that the HSG was able to reduce the score to 4:5 (8th minute). In the end, Julian and Gregor Thomann should be the top HSG goal scorers with nine goals each.

The home team then went on a 3-0 run and forced Wendel to take the first period. But things did not go well for his protégés, Willstätt increased the score to 10:5 (13th) and a little later even to 14:8 (20th). The absence of Lukas Mayer was also noticeable for the Albstadt team (privately suspended), so the HSG had to do without a left winger in the back court. Nevertheless, the Black and Reds briefly battled their way back to 11:14, only to fall back to 13:19 before the break.

Mortgage ends up being too high

Albstadt came a little better in the second half. And after a third time penalty against Lucas Limouzin, the Willstätters were now missing their most dangerous attacker. Thanks to a hat-trick from Gregor Thomann, Wendel’s team got back to 22:25 (43′). Lasse Fuchs reduced the score to 25:27 with a seven meter penalty twelve minutes before the end – the game was in the balance. “You have a chance. But then we throw away two balls again and we don’t get two whistles,” the HSG coach reports. The Ortenau club went ahead again to 31:26 – and they made it clear in the end.

“We slept through the first half,” Wendel admits. “And then we kept chasing the deficit. We tried many things but nothing worked. It’s only been a day.” It’s clear that the goalkeeper duel went to the Willstätter team, continued Wendel. “The other goalkeeper saves a lot of balls and our goalkeepers didn’t go in to the game.

The opponent delivered exactly what the HSG leader had seen and expected beforehand. “We can’t defend it with enough confidence,” Wendel said. “They played a lot with two circles, with a lot of crossing routes, long attacks. And for them it’s the throw-in from the post and for us it’s out the post. Now we have to prove that.

So the focus is already on the coming weekend, when the Albstadt team can play again in front of their home crowd, then against HC Neuenbürg. “We have a chance to get points again,” said Wendel. “And we have to approach every opportunity with full throttle so that we can grab the points like a hamster before the winter – and keep the pace until the relegation places.”