TUSEM met Potsdam at the end of August when VfL won the first round of the DHB Cup 32:27. As a result, the team from Essen now wanted to take revenge and stay on the road to success after two victories in a row. But the task against the fourth in the standings wasn’t easy, as we saw at the start. Former TUSEM players Cyrill Akakpo and Karl Roosna gave Potsdam the lead, but the hosts held back.
Lukas Diedrich in goal was once again a strong support, but he also got a lot of support from the people up front. The defense did not allow itself too much and defended the strong backcourt of the guests vehemently and successfully. The otherwise so accurate Emil Hansson shouldn’t have so much luck this evening, the Potsdam backcourt player was slowed down again and again. With every save from Diedrich and every goal from the home team, the atmosphere in the “Am Hallo” arena improved and TUSEM turned the game in their favor until the break. With a fairly comfortable 12:9 lead, we entered the booths.
In the second half, Essen wanted to improve their game, but Potsdam tried to keep pace. Mistakes crept in from both sides at times, and due to a few penalties, it at times became a game that could quickly transform. Especially since coach Bob Hanning’s team was almost able to use TUSEM’s short period of weakness to equalize, because after 19:16 (48th) it was back to 19:18 (50th).
But in these decisive minutes the hosts remained focused and put everything back on the scales. Thanks to a spirited defense and other important saves from Lukas Diedrich, the Margarethenhöhe side kept clean for ten minutes. In addition, there were several quick attacks on the other side via the strong Felix Eißing and Finley Werschkull, which is why TUSEM finally made the decision and could not be denied the home win. 28:20 was very clear, but deserved.
“The victory is just fantastic. We defended incredibly well and if something went wrong, Lukas was right there in goal. The boys have won a lot and if we continue to defend at this level it will be tough for any opponent against us. There were phases where the game could have gone haywire. But we didn’t rush or panic. Everyone in the team did their part to ensure that we won,” coach Michael Hegemann said happily.
And defense player Dennis Szczesny was also happy: “It was a great game and a deserved victory. We put up a very good defense and had a strong Lukas Diedrich in goal. It was a hard-fought match, but in the end we were able to pull away decisively and so on” Then it was all over. We took the momentum from the last few matches and got our third win in a row. There was also a good atmosphere in the room, it made us want to continue like this.”
Source: TuSEM Essen / Photo: RHR-PHOTO
