Match Report
Handball ladies win in front of 9,305 fans in the Westfalenhalle
The scenario: The Black & Yellows wanted revenge for the 32-30 first leg defeat in Norway and of course, to offer the 9,305 fans a spectacle in the Westfalenhalle. However, both teams were only playing for pride on the day. Following defeat in the league against Ludwigsburg on Wednesday, it was also about improving morale for the upcoming Final 4 of the cup.
Personnel matters: Lena Hausherr was joined on the injury list by goalkeeper Norah Kothen following her knee surgery on Friday. Carmen Campos warmed up with the team, but the game came too early in her recovery from injury. Tess Lieder, meanwhile, was ready for her first appearance since her head injury in December.
The match: The Borussia women started fantastically in front of the impressive backdrop in the Westfalenhalle. Alicia Langer and Dana Bleckmann immediately started BVB on an early run. Emma Olsson applied the finish after a fantastic pass by goalkeeper Sarah Wachter to make it 3-0 after four minutes. The guests from Norway had difficulty in carving out clear opportunities. The Black & Yellow back line was too agile and had the consistently well-placed Sarah Wachter in goal behind it.
With the lead, the hosts did exactly what their coach Henk Groener had told his team was his expectation in advance of the game: play with freedom. The relaxed attitude was written all over the faces of the players. Rarely has the ball been moved so seamlessly through the lines of attack this season. Sola repeatedly struggled to cover the Dortmund movement, and Dana Bleckmann stretched BVB's lead to 15-8 in the 21st minute. The back court player changed her throwing hand in mid-air and delicately lifted the ball over Sola's goalkeeper.
Head coach Henk Groener started the second half with a very different starting formation. The Dutchman brought in Tess Lieder in goal, youngster Lara Egeling on the left, Lena Degenhardt on the inside-left, new signing Lois Abbingh in the middle and Kelly Vollebregt on the right-hand side. Only a little more than three minutes had been played when the 9,305 spectators in the Westfalenhalle could barely believe their eyes: suddenly, the game was all-square at 19-19.
The force that the Borussia ladies had brought onto the court at the beginning of the game was returned by Norwegians at the start of the second half. After an early time-out called by Groener, however, BVB found their feet again. But the Sola players' body language was completely different now. In the 40th minute, Tess Lieder marked her return after a long injury lay-off following a blow to her head in late-December with her first save back in the Borussia goal.
With three more saves, Lieder brought the Westfalenhalle to life and loud "BVB" chants began bellowing throughout the hall. But the Scandinavians were now also enjoying the atmosphere, with around 100 travelling fans from Sola also playing their part, and making themselves heard time and again with songs in the quieter moments in the hall. A game where the goals were flowing freely had now turned into a defensive battle played with plenty of passion.
And there were two players who really put themselves in the spotlight: Brazilian Mayssa de Oliveira Pessoa in goal for the away side, and her opposite number, Dortmund's Tess Lieder. The Dutchwoman staked a strong claim to a starting spot with ten saves in the second half of her comeback game. Pessoa made 11 saves over the entire game.
At 27-24, Lieder crowned her impressive performance with her own goal, finding the empty net of the Norwegians. Almost five minutes before the final whistle, all signs pointed to a Borussia home victory. Sola did not give up, however, and made the most of Pessoa's strong saves to the arrears to just one goal. The last attack of the game then belonged to the Scandinavians with seven seconds of time remaining, but the Dortmund inner block combined to block the attempted shot, sending the amassed Black & Yellow fans into raptures as the celebrations broke out in front of a breathtaking backdrop.
Alicia Langer: "Thank you to all the spectators for this atmosphere. This season, we've had a lot of exciting games toward the end. I am glad that we could still fight for this victory. Sola also played a great game and didn't give up despite the deficit. We had to hold firm against them again.
Tess Lieder: "We worked to make sure I could play again today and it was breathtaking. Not being able to play since Christmas and to do so now in this setting – that was just wonderful."
Outlook: Next weekend, the big domestic DHB Cup Final 4 will be held in Stuttgart. Borussia will face German champions HB Ludwigsburg in the semi-final at 19:00 CET on Saturday 1 March. Then, Sunday 2 March will see BVB play either the third-place play-off (12:30 CET) or the final (15:00 CET).
BVB Handball Women: Wachter, Lieder (1), Eckhardt; Abbingh (3/2), Kusian, Antl (1), Degenhardt (1), van Maurik (1), Langer (4), Lassource (7/3), Sasaki, Husebo, Olsson (3), Vollebregt (1), Egeling, Bleckmann (7)