Status: 16.01.2024, 10:15 a.m.
By: Roland Halmel
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One of the few bright spots: Mathieu Newcomb (in the black jersey, here an archive footage) received special praise from coach Ken Latta, not only because of his three goals. © Roland Halmel
At first glance, EA Schongau pulled itself out of the affair with reigning champion Königsbrunn. Coach Ken Latta, however, was pretty angry after his team's performance.
Schongau – Losing to the reigning Bayernliga champions with only a three-goal difference with a decimated squad looks like a decent performance at first glance. The 3:6 (2:2, 0:2, 1:2) defeat of EA Schongau at EHC Königsbrunn did not fall into this category despite these far from optimal conditions. "We got unnecessary penalty times," EAS coach Ken Latta was annoyed about indiscipline in his team, but also the weak performances of some Schongau players made the coach angry. "A few of them just went for a walk," complained Latta, who singled out only one player in a positive light, apart from goalie Daniel Blankenburg, who prevented a heavier defeat: Mathieu Newcomb. "Matt played very well, as he did on Friday. If everyone had worked like him, there would have been something in Königsbrunn," said Latta in praise of the Canadian striker, who scored all three Schongau goals.
Schongau is back in the fight for tenth place
But they weren't enough to score points. This cost the Mammoths tenth place, as rival Ulm/Neu-Ulm won against Buchloe. With the extremely difficult remaining schedule - four times in the last five games against a team from the top eight - a Herculean task awaits the Schongau team to regain the pre-play-off place.
Mammoths take the lead twice in the first period
The Königsbrunn team, who were also weakened by substitutes, started the game with momentum. However, it was the visitors who were allowed to celebrate after Newcomb had completed a squeaky clean counterattack with the 1:0 after his team had won the disc while his team was outnumbered (5th). But the joy was short-lived. In the same power play, Mika Reuter equalized after an individual performance (6th). In the middle of the first half, two EHC players went into the cooler in quick succession. Newcomb took advantage of the numerical superiority again, scoring from an acute angle to make it 2-1 and thus give EAS the lead again (12th). But even this lead only lasted for a short time, as Toms Prokopovics converted a solo to make it 2-2 after the two penalties against the home side had expired (13th).
EAS misses two overtime games
As a result, the home side continued to dominate the game, with the Mammoths repeatedly setting pinpricks on counterattacks. Two overtime games at the beginning of the second period let the Schongau team pass unused. After that, EAS came under increasing pressure. The logical consequence: Reuter scored the 3:2 (32nd) and thus the first lead for the hosts. Shortly afterwards, it hit again behind EAS goalie Blankenburg when Leon Steinberger deflected a long-range shot to make it 4-2 (35th).
EAS goalkeeper Blankenburg concedes curious goal
Schongau's goalkeeper was unlucky in the final half when Leon Hartl, who was standing behind the goal, shot at him, so that the disc rolled into the goal to make it 5-2 (46th). In the closing stages, Latta took his goalie off the ice early in favor of an outfield player. The numerical superiority paid off at first: Newcomb deflected a shot by Marius Klein into the EHC box to make it 3-5 (58th). However, this did not change the defeat, as the home side immediately made it 6-3 with an empty-net goal from Steinberger (60th).
My news
Four times behind, then technical goal: EA Schongau wins hard-fought game
Statistics
EHC Königsbrunn - EA Schongau 6:3 (2:2, 2:0, 2:1)
1st period: 0-1 (4:49) Newcomb (Steiner, Klein/4-5), 1-1 (5:32) Reuter (Döring, Beslic/5-4), 1-2 (11:07) Newcomb (Lautenbacher, Klein/5-3), 2-2 (12:31) Prokopovics. 2nd period: 3:2 (31:15) Reuter (Bullnheimer, Trupp), 4:2 (34:07) Steinberger (Beslic, Döring). 3rd period: 5-2 (45:49) Hartl (Baur, Erdt), 5-3 (57:12) Newcomb (Klein, J. Müller), 6-3 (59:10) Steinberger (Reuter/empty-net-goal). Penalty minutes: Königsbrunn 16, Schongau 14. Attendance: 326.