In the opening game of the Eurohockey Challenge in Linköping, Sweden, the women's national team lost to the hosts from Sweden 2:3 (0:0; 1:2; 1:0, 0:0, 0:1) in a penalty shootout on Friday evening.
From the start, the two strong and talented teams had a balanced share of the game. In the well-attended ice rink in Linköping, the German team started wide awake and created a few good scoring opportunities.
Sweden, Europe's top team, was able to score two goals in the first twelve minutes of the second third DEB-Selection take a 2-0 lead. In the 37th minute, the German women took advantage of a numerical advantage to make it 2-1.
The German team continued to apply pressure and achieved the deserved equalizer in the final third through a united team performance in the majority. In the following overtime period, neither team was able to decide the game. The Germans survived a final outnumbered game and forced the hosts into a penalty shootout, where the Swedes ultimately prevailed.
Benjamin Hinterstocker: "I consider Sweden to be one of the top European teams. Our team performed very well in the 6th international match of the current season and after yesterday's two joint training sessions. The result reflects the performance shown. Now we need to preserve this and constantly drive the development of the team forward."
Franziska Albl:“I am very satisfied with the team performance. Thanks to the consistently hard defensive work of the whole team, we deserved the equalizer.”
The next game is today at 14.00 p.m. against Russia. You will find a live ticker here