Löwen's 100% record comes to an end with draw
After two straight group wins in Group B Rhein-Neckar Löwen were held to a 32:32 draw by KS Vive Tauron Kielce.
The Polish champions were two goals behind with two minutes left but fought back to steal a point thanks to an excellent performance from left back Michal Jurecki who starred with nine goals.
Löwen now have five points from their first three Group B games while Kielce have three from three.
GROUP B:
Rhein Neckar Löwen (GER) vs Vive Tauron Kielce (POL) 32:32 (19:15)
It was the first Champions League match after Rhein-Neckar Löwen team captain Uwe Gensheimer had announced that he will leave “his club” after this season. The 3,387 fans in the SAP Arena gave him a huge standing ovation.
Kielce though were quickest out of the blocks taking a 10:12 lead before Löwen found their rhythm and went in at the interval 19:15 ahead. A margin that could have been greater if not for the excellent saves of Slawomir Szmal, who was one of five former Löwen players in the Kielce squad.
Kielce coach Talant Dujshebaev adapted the style of defending for the second half and his side fought back to level the game on the 41-minute mark.
The lead then changed hands a number of times before Andre Schmid took control. When the Swiss international netted to put his side 32:30 ahead it looked like the home side would make it three wins from three.
Patrick Groetzki then missed chances to seal it for the home side while at the other end Jurecki and Uros Zorman found gaps in the defence of the hosts to level the match with less than a minute to play.
15 seconds before the final buzzer Löwen coach Nikolaj Jacobsen took his final timeout. Kielce though managed to hold strong and Schmid took the last shot which was easily saved by Marin Sego.
Löwen coach Nikolaj Jacobsen believed his side could have won it: “Kielce played with a lot of power. Both teams can be satisfied, though we had the chance to decide the match in the last two minutes.”
Kielce wing Tobias Reichmann meanwhile was delighted with the result: “Löwen are one of the best teams in Europe, so we are lucky and happy with this point. Our defence improved today and that was key for us taking the draw.”
TEXT: Bjorn pazen / rm
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