Relegation in the last second

Created: 09/01/2022, 10:00 am

By: Wolfgang Krzizok

Unbridled joy: Franzi Feldmeier (left) celebrates her goal to make it 1-1 against Denmark.

© IIHF

Unbridled jubilation on the one hand, bewilderment on the other.

Frederikshaven – Exactly one second before the end, Tanja Eisenschmid made it 3-2 for Germany against World Cup hosts Denmark, who had to be relegated as a result.

On Monday against the Czech Republic, Germany could have opened the door to the quarter-finals if they had won, but suffered a clear 6-0 (3-0, 2-0, 1-0) defeat.

"You could clearly see that the Czech Republic played ice hockey at a different level and that they were technically and tactically superior to us," admits defender Tabea Botthof.

"We've played tighter against the Czech Republic in the past, but they made very few mistakes this time and we were too insecure." Goalkeeper Sandra Abstreiter also praised the opponent.

"They were really good and we were too passive, it only worked better in the last third." That's how Bernadette Karpf sees it, who complains: "We just gave them too much space."

The next low blow came in the evening when Hungary scored a point against Sweden under the eyes of the German ice hackers at 2:3 after a penalty shootout.

So it was clear: the game against Denmark will be a final for staying up in the league.

Because Denmark had one more point on the account, it was also clear: The DEB team had to win in regular time.

“For Denmark it was the same starting position as in the Olympic qualifiers, one point is enough,” says Abkampfer.

Back then, in November last year in Füssen, Germany won 3-2 after a penalty shoot-out, so Denmark went to Beijing.

On Tuesday in Frederikshavn, a "super exciting - for some too exciting game" followed, says Franzi Feldmeier, who had made it 1-1 in the meantime when she deflected a shot from the air (9th).

"I think that overall we deserved to win this game." For Bernadette Karpf it was crucial "that we never gave up and showed a really strong team performance.

Especially in the last third we showed what we are capable of.”

Denmark scored in the 5th and 29th minutes.

Goalkeeper Sandra Abstreiter, who offered a strong game, had no chance.

"Two mistakes gave us two goals against, while we managed to get an awful lot of shots at the Danish goalkeeper but were only rewarded with a superior goal," said Botthof.

"The last third was brutal, the way we put pressure on it, I didn't have anything else to do," says keeper Abstreiter with a laugh.

The shooting ratio in the final section was 25:1.

"I knew it was only a matter of time before we made it 2-2, so I was very relaxed at the time," emphasizes Botthof.

Four minutes before the siren, Laura Kluge equalized to make it 2-2.

"We never stopped believing in ourselves," says Feldmeier, and Botthof adds: "We've often had the decision on our hands.

I wouldn't have thought it possible for Tanja to make it 3:2 at the last second.” After that, the cheering on the German side knew no bounds, while the hosts, who had been relegated with it, crept into the dressing room with hanging heads.

"It was a super cool feeling, we celebrated as if we had won who knows what," says a beaming Abstreiter.

"We didn't reach our goal of quarter-finals, but it's very important that we didn't get relegated."

The German team flew back home yesterday and is already looking ahead.

“Unfortunately, the World Cup went by faster for us than we had planned.

We had the potential to win three out of four games in the preliminary round, but we couldn't fully exploit it," said Botthof self-critically.

"Now it's time to draw conclusions from our performance, suggest changes if necessary and continue to work on the construction sites that have emerged so that we can play a level better than this year at the World Cup in Canada in April 2023." And Karpf adds self-confident: "Then we'll move into the quarter-finals."