Eight times German champion: ESC Planegg takes the title in Füssen

The dream of the title is perfect.

After a 3: 2 against Memmingen and a 4: 1 in the final against Berlin, the ESC Planegg is German champion for the eighth time.

Planegg - In the end, the clubs and helmets flew.

With a 4-1 final win against Eisbären Juniors Berlin, ESC Planegg secured the German championship for the eighth time yesterday afternoon.

“It was a great game,” enthused captain Mona Pink after the gala performance of her team against a furious rival from the Spree, who had knocked out the top favorites ERC Ingolstadt 2-1 in the semifinals.

"They put in an outstanding team performance all weekend," praised Pink.

But her team also reached the limit in both matches.

The penguins were particularly challenged in the semifinals against ECDC Memmingen.

The 3-2 win against arch rivals from the Allgäu was thanks in particular to Franziska Albl, who held up brilliantly on both days.

Because in the final, too, she wore down the dangerous attack ranks of the Berlin women with her parades.

"It's just amazing to get the thing," said the goalkeeper of the ESC after winning the first title since 2017.

Eisbären Juniors Berlin start strong, but ESC Planegg takes the lead

At first it seemed in the final that the polar bears would build on their performance against ERC Ingolstadt.

But Planegg's Kerstin Spielberger put a damper on the opponent after seven minutes.

With a pass from Janina Fuchs, the striker took the lead for the ESC.

“The team was hot,” said sports director Michael Lehmann, who recognized his team's determination to win the title.

Planegg then controlled what was happening until Justine Reyes had to go into the cooler.

Berlin got the upper hand again and sniffed the balance.

Theresa Knutson had the best chance with a penalty.

But Albl calmly plucked their shot from the air.

Reyes is increasingly coming into focus - and is responsible for the preliminary decision

From then on, Justine Reyes came more and more into focus.

The American had four excellent opportunities to extend the lead.

The necessary fortune, which she was denied, then had her compatriot Jacyn Reeves, who was later named the best player of the game.

Eleven seconds were still on the clock in the second third when she - mind you, outnumbered - wets off dryly.

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The decision: Justine Reyes scores 3-0 in the final.

© Christine Pleyer

The penguins demonstrated right at the beginning of the third round how to correctly play out a majority.

Reyes made a 3-0 counterattack for the preliminary decision.

Lucie Geelhaar brought Berlin close again, but the hit didn't change the fact that the underdog was now noticeably losing strength.

Planegg had everything under control and soon restored the old three-goal gap through Spielberger.

ESC Planegg already strong in the semifinals against ECDC Memmingen

It was a performance that seamlessly continued the performance from the semifinals against Memmingen.

When Franziska Albl picked up the award for the best player in her team after the game, the entire team felt honored.

The goalkeeper of the ESC allowed only two of a total of 34 shots to pass.

The fact that the number of attempts was kept within limits was mainly due to their front men, who surpassed themselves on the defensive.

A total of six times the penguins had to cope with a minority against the table third in the preliminary round without conceding a goal.

"It was the crucial point that we showed an extremely strong performance when we were outnumbered," emphasized sports director Lehmann.

Final four tournament in Füssen: ESC Planegg has the happy ending to itself

The compact defense alone would not have been enough to win the semi-finals.

Planegg took advantage of its opportunities ice-cold.

When the Penguins had two more players on the ice for the first time at the beginning of the second period, Julia Zorn poked the disc to make it 1-0 into the opposing net.

After the equalization by post, the ESC remained unimpressed and hit back just six minutes later.

Franziska Feldmeier drove around behind the gate with the pane and found Janina Fuchs standing free in the middle - 2: 1.

Not even a minute later, the record champions landed the next effective hit.

Julia Zorn served Justine Reyes with a sensational pass from her third.

The American had a free run, rounded national goalkeeper Jennifer Harß and pushed the puck in to make it 3-1.

Nevertheless, it got exciting again when Lena Schurr got back on track a quarter of an hour before the end.

Captain Pink admitted: “The happy ending was on our side.” And - even more important: in the end the championship title.

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