After the great first leg, the Hocky men from Crefeld HTC had to admit defeat twice in the second leg in Mannheim in a penalty shoot-out (2:4 and 5:6 each nSO) and thus miss the crowning glory of a strong season. Coach Ronan Gormley’s team balanced both games and could count on a strong Joshua Onyekwue Nnaji in goal. Mannheim got back into the game with penalty corners and, with the necessary bit of luck, got their ticket to the finals in the shoot-out.
On Saturday, Mannheim presented themselves much more offensively than in the first leg, but Masi Pfandt converted the first penalty corner from Krefeld to a 1-0 lead. Just a little later, Mannheim’s Linus Müller maneuvered a penalty corner over the line in the second margin. In the second quarter at the latest, CHTC keeper Joshua Onyekwue Nnaji came into focus with strong saves. But he was powerless against a penalty by Gonzalo Peillat.
Shortly after half-time, Masi Pfandt defeated MHC keeper Lukas Stumpf to make it 2-2. The CHTC also presented itself more dangerously in the last part of the game, but there were no goals. In the shoot-out, both goalkeepers once again proved their class. Finally, Mannheim’s Justus Weigand carried the ball over the line to make it 1-0. Since the Krefeld shooters were unlucky, Raphael Hartkopf’s goal saved the MHC into the decider.
Both teams noticed the importance of the game there. As in the first two games, Mannheimer HC relied on a strong penalty corner, but Krefeld, with Niklas Wellen in the lead, made numerous attempts. Both teams played again and again with long balls into the circle, but failed several times from a good position at the respective goalkeepers. Finally, Tim Seagon completed a Mannheim attack with a stab to make it 1-0 (41st).
In the last section of the game, which was becoming increasingly intense, Niklas Wellen coldly exploited a misunderstanding on the part of the southern Germans and placed the ball from the edge of the circle right into the corner for a well-deserved equaliser. Masi Pfandt turned the game around in favor of the guests with a penalty corner (47th). Mannheim had a series of penalty corners shortly before the end, the CHTC defense again blocked several times, but Gonzalo Peillat converted the fifth attempt to equalize with 100 seconds from the end.
In the shoot-out, Niklas Wellen converted the following penalty after a foul on him and Mannheim’s Jan-Philipp Fischer was also successful. The next three shooters all failed due to the agile goalkeepers, and finally Justus Weigand gave the home side the lead. Krefeld’s Nicolas Acosta stayed cool afterwards and brought the ball over the line just before the time limit to make it 2-2. Since his teammates Martin Ferreiro and Anton Boomes had previously failed to score, Gonzalo Peilat’s seven-meter penalty was enough for Mannheim to win.
“Of course we are totally disappointed at the moment. We put in a great performance and didn’t lose a game against the team with the most points in the league. In the end there are many tight situations, sometimes only centimeters are missing and in the shoot-out maybe also the experience. At the same time, the whole season has been incredible encouragement for us and our journey with the players and the coaching staff as we look ahead to the new season. We have made a great development and made it great as a climber,” said the 1st Chairman of the CHTC Dirk Wellen.
#Hockey #CHTC #missing #seconds #semifinals
