Having not lost a game throughout the group phase, Sola HK failed to capitalise on their advantage in the first leg of their EHF European League Women quarter-final against CS Minaur Baia Mare.
The Romanian side recorded their biggest win of the season, 40:32, against Sola, as they took a huge step towards reaching the EHF Finals Women.
QUARTER-FINAL, FIRST LEG
CS Minaur Baia Mare (ROU) vs Sola HK (NOR) 40:32 (18:14)
- Minaur produced their best first half of the season, after right back Jelena Lavko and line player Yaroslava Burlachenko combined for 10 goals
- a 4:1 run start at the second half was Baia Mare's backbone to building a huge advantage that will be difficult to cancel in the second leg
- Baia Mare confirmed their status as a powerhouse on home court, winning their ninth game from 11 played at home in the past two seasons of the competition
- the top scorer of the group phase, Sola's right wing, Camilla Herrem, scored only four goals, two of which came late in the game, against her former team
- the second leg will take place in Stavanger on Sunday 3 April – and the Norwegian side will have a mountain to climb
Sola's attack falters at the wrong time
Sola finished with the top attack in the group phase of the EHF European League Women after scoring 196 goals in six matches, but they were stopped in their tracks against Baia Mare, as their usually fast-flowing attack resulted in costly turnovers.
Baia Mare had never previously scored 40 goals in a match in the EHF European League Women, but they chose the perfect day to deploy their powerful attack and create one of the biggest surprises of the season.
We knew this would be a difficult game against Baia Mare. We didn't manage to stand up against their attack, and they punished us hard when we made mistakes. Now we will prepare for the rematch, and we are still in the game.
It turned out to be a game with fast handball and a lot of goals. Hopefully at the game next week we will get our own turn to play even faster.
