Next weekend (March 13th and 14th) the championship title of the Women's Bundesliga (DFEL) will be played in a Final Four tournament in Füssen. After all the main round games were played without any major complications, the season is about to reach its climax with the fight for the championship.
In preparation for the tournament, deb-online.de takes a look at the participants. How did the season go for the team? Who are the key players? And what does U18 women's national coach Franziska Busch think of the respective teams?
ECDC Memmingen Indians: “We have what it takes to beat the favorites”
A good mix of routine and youthful enthusiasm as well as the motivation to dupe the big championship contenders: The ECDC Memmingen Indians are betting on having a great weekend at the Final Four tournament. “We are a relatively diverse team of young and experienced players. Our defense and our power play are certainly one of our strengths and we also have what it takes to beat the favorites,” says goalkeeper Jennifer Harss about her team. The national player will certainly play a key role in Füssen.
Memmingen goes into the deciding tournament as third in the previous DFEL main round and would like to build on the successes of the recent past. The last five seasons were certainly the heyday of the club's history for the Memmingen women. During this time, the season was crowned with a title three times (2016, 2018, 2019), and in the season that was canceled due to the corona pandemic, Memmingen was in the play-off final against ESC Planegg. Now the fourth championship is to follow.
In the first game, Planegg, second in the table and last year's final opponent, has to be defeated. A difficult opponent against whom head coach Werner Tenschert's team has only managed one win after extra time in four games. Harss could be an important building block for a strong final tournament: although she made it into the main round due to appearances in the men'sBayernLeague and Oberliga only made five appearances for the Memmingen women, but always left the ice as the winner. A good omen?
The team is led by captain Daria Gleißner, who, like the equally experienced leading players Sonja Weidenfeller and Antje Sabautzki in attack and Mandy Dibowski and Lena Kartheininger in defense, are indispensable for the Final Four tournament. “Players like this are extremely important for a team, as many girls will feel the pressure of such important finals for the first time,” says U18 women’s national coach Franziska Busch.
But young players have also demonstrated their skills under Tenschert this season. The two youngsters Katharina Häckelsmiller and Ronja Hark are players who have come into focus and who could cause surprises. The Canadians Kassie Roache and Savannah Rennie are probably the most dangerous strikers at the ECDC and together have a total of 61 points. In addition to Gleißner, two other national players, Carina Strobel and Anne Bartsch, also play key roles for the Indians.
U-18 women’s national coach Franziska Busch: “Memmingen had fluctuating performances in the main round: wins against fellow favorites, but also lost points against teams that were placed behind them. They now have to play two very good games in the final tournament.”
All games are live, free of charge and in full length in the live stream www.thefan.fm/live to be followed.
Here you can find an interview with the Memmingen captain Daria Gleißner to get you in the mood: https://www.thefan.fm/details/5237/
On https://www.gamepitch.de/deb/frauen/frauen-bundesliga/ there is information and statistics about the women's Bundesliga.
The games in the Final Four are scheduled as follows:
Saturday, March 13, 2021:
15:00 p.m. / ERC Ingolstadt - Eisbären Juniors Berlin
19:00 p.m. / ESC Planegg – ECDC Memmingen
Sunday March 14, 2021:
11:00 a.m. / Game for 3rd place
15:00 p.m. / Final