The Rhein-Neckar Löwen have to settle for one point in the BW duel against Frisch Auf Göppingen. Nevertheless, the Lions fans had reason to celebrate.
Buchele or Jensen? Jensen or Buchele? Until the last minute it was not clear which of the two keepers would become the hero. Both showed outstanding performances in the 30:30 draw between the Rhein-Neckar Löwen and Frisch Auf Göppingen. The goalkeeper duel ended in a draw just like the BW duel. After the final whistle, Göppingen’s goalkeeper Julian Buchele was at least in a better mood, as the favorites from Mannheim were more likely to mourn the loss of a point, while the guests celebrated the away point.
There was good news for the Lions fans even before kick-off: Top goalscorer Jannik Kohlbacher has extended his contract with the Rhein-Neckar Löwen until 2029. The pivot has been playing for the Lions since summer 2018. “Jannik is an absolute leader. He is extremely important for the team. Never at a loss for a casual saying, he creates a good atmosphere in the dressing room, but on the other hand stands for professionalism and 100 percent commitment,” said sports director Uwe Gensheimer about the 30-year-old.
Rhein-Neckar Löwen with a strong start
Even in the initial phase everything went well for the Lions: Coach Maik Machulla had promised fast handball before the season. Against Frisch Auf Göppingen, his players implemented this very well, at least in the first half. Dani Baijens and Haukur Thrastarson in particular pressed the accelerator hard in the middle and left back. The three-goal lead (5:2) after less than six minutes was well deserved.
The Göppingen players, trained by Benjamin Matschke, needed about ten minutes to adjust to the lions’ high-speed attacks. But when Frisch Auf scratched the equalizer after about 15 minutes (8:7), backcourt player Victor Klöve had to go down for two minutes after a foul. The Rhein-Neckar Löwen regained the lead with the majority (13:9) and had the game under control – until Matschke ordered Julian Buchele into the Göppingen goal instead of Kristian Sæverås. With an incredible 58 percent catch rate for a handball goalkeeper, he drove the lions to despair and enabled Frisch Auf to equalize at halftime to 15:15.
Frisch Auf Göppingen is coming out of the break better
After the break, Göppingen even turned the game around. Mannheim had big problems against the massive Frisch-Auf defense. When they did break through, they always failed because of the outstanding Buchele. Mannheim even had to chase down a three-goal deficit at one point (16:19). During this phase, Machulla also changed the goalkeeper and brought on Mike Jensen for David Späth. And that helped the Lions take another lead in the final phase (26:25). The game remained close. After a foul on Lukas Sandell, Mannheim had the opportunity to win the game with 26 seconds left with the score at 30:30. They wanted to play it down patiently – in the end too patiently, because the time passed second by second without Mannheim finding the decisive gap in the Göppingen defense. Then Baijens failed with a hectically executed free throw at the Göppingen middle block and the deserved division of points remained.
The Rhein-Neckar Löwen are now in seventh place in the handball Bundesliga with 10:6 points. Frisch Auf Göppingen moves up to eighth place with a score of 8:8. Next Thursday (7 p.m.) the Rhein-Neckar Lions will play at TBV Lemgo. Göppingen will play against Bergischer HC one day later (7 p.m.).
