The handball team from Borussia Dortmund narrowly missed the final of the European League.
Coach Henk Groener’s team lost to Danish club Nykoebing Falster HK 33:35 (17:13/29:29/32:32) after throwing seven meters in the semifinals in Graz, Austria.
The Danish title favorite Ikast Handbold had already entered the final with a 31:26 (17:10) against the second German representative in the Final Four, Thüringer HC. The successor to last year’s winner SG BBM Bietigheim will be determined there on Sunday at 6 p.m. Meanwhile, THC and BVB are dueling for third place in the small final (3:30 p.m.).
Clear lead to the break
The early stages were all in the name of Dana Bleckmann, who scored Dortmund’s first three goals. Both teams gave nothing in the first few minutes and met at eye level. After the first quarter of an hour, no team had been able to break away (8:8), but the players from Nykobing Falster were twice outnumbered in this phase. Thanks to their strong goalkeeper Yara Ten Holte, BVB was able to take advantage of this and take the lead for the first time with a two-goal difference (10:8).
BVB took this momentum with them even after the opponent’s penalties had expired and extended their lead to 12:8 (20th). At the break, Dortmund had a reasonably comfortable 17:13 lead. Bleckmann had already scored six goals by then.
Rönning saves Dortmund in extra time
After the break, Dortmund initially defended their lead confidently until Nykoebing reduced Falster to two goals with a 3-0 run (22:20/42.). Groener immediately took a break. However, the speech by the BVB coach had no effect, because the Danes continued their run and a short time later Nykoebing led 23:22 (45 th ), favored by Dortmund being outnumbered.
But the Bundesliga side struggled after the playful lead and turned the tables again. Ten minutes before the end, Alina Grijseels completed a Dortmund 3-0 run to make it 27:24 (50th minute), which led to a time-out for the opposition. Nykoebing Falster came out of the break with momentum and immediately equalized to 27:27 (52nd).
After another time-out for Dortmund, the balance of power was balanced again and it went into a dramatic final phase in which Frida Rönning sent the game into overtime with her goal to make it 29:29.
Ten Holte shines in the final seconds
In the first half of extra time, Mia Solberg gave Svele Nykoebing Falster the lead, but conceded a two-minute penalty shortly afterwards. Anna-Lena Hausherr equalized with a penalty for BVB (30:30). There were no more goals in the first five minutes.
In the second half, the Danes initially took the lead through Svele, but Rönning equalized immediately. Grijseels responded to Alberte Kielstrup Madsen’s goal with another equalizer. In the final seconds of extra time, Ten Holte prevented Dortmund’s defeat with a strong save against Elma Halilcevic and it was time to throw a seven-meter throw.
Only host scores in the shootout
After goals from Svele for Nykobing Falster and the home side for Dortmund, Halilcevic and Bleckmann discarded. The Danish representative’s next two shooters were successful, while Haruno Sasaki and Griseels failed at BVB.
Dortmund’s top scorers were Bleckmann with seven and the home side with six.
