The Sharks1 fought on Sunday January 28th, 2024 in Graz for a place in the play off OHL and absolutely needed a win in regular time.
Both teams knew how important this game was and went out on the ice with the desire to win. The home team got off to a better start and took the lead 1-0 in the 4th minute through Luca Rodiga. The 2-0 was made in the 10th minute by the American Cody Wickstrom. Then the Gmundner Haie found their way into the game better and also had some good chances, which finally led to the 2-1 goal in the 19:42 minute with a remarkable solo run from Adrian Rosenberger.
After the first third break things went better for the Sharks and in the 27th minute of the game it was Adrian Rosenberger who single-handedly equalized the score at 2-2 with his second goal. Unfortunately, the Sharks weakened themselves with a few time penalties and a 10-minute disciplinary penalty from Patrick Gaffal. The decisive 3-2 victory for Graz was scored by Stefan Trost. The game was on a knife edge.
Both teams also had pure fighting spirit in the final third. There were no goals until the last minute of the game. The Sharks’ goalkeeper Luka Gracnar was swapped for a sixth field player. Luca Rodiga correctly grasped the situation and shot the hard rubber disc into the guests’ empty goal to make it 4:2 in the 58:58 minute. From the dream of the play-off of the first team of the Rauch Technology Sharks Gmunden. What a shame it would have been too nice!
Shark trainer Gregor Baumgartner after the game: “It wasn’t meant to be. Despite my team’s fighting spirit, our attacks were lacking in effectiveness at times. The opponents were just a bit better. The punishments, of course, contributed to the bitter defeat. With the move into the play off ÖEL it won’t happen anymore. But we will play in the last game of the season next Saturday in Vienna against WEV try to find a worthy conclusion. If you look at the table you can see that the Rauch Technology Sharks Gmunden is second in the evaluation of goals with a goal difference plus, is even in first place in the team rankings ahead of Kapfenberg and has often lost games by just one goal difference. The young team simply needs time, we knew this from the start. Player inquiries for 2024/2025 are already there, with one or two reinforcements we can look to the future with confidence. For me as a coach it was great to work with the Sharks and I’m looking forward to next season ÖEL“.
The Sharks2 welcomed the Grizzlies Linz today, Sunday January 28th, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. A win would have secured our place in the play-off! What followed was a lively and fast game between both teams and after 17 minutes the score was 0-1 for the Grizzly from Linz. Paul Böcker was the goalscorer. And that’s how it went into the first third break.
Things continue at a fast pace. The guests’ game structure simply works better. The logical consequence was more scoring chances and this also led to the score being 0:3 after further goals from Marwin Liesch and Lukas Werenka for the Grizzly. The Sharks now had two or three good attacks including a shot against the crossbar, bad luck for the home team. Then another storm and Bastian Szieber slammed the puck into the Linz goal to make it 1:3. At the same time, this was also the status after 40 minutes!
In the 56th minute of the game, Daniel Mörixbauer had to allow a long-range shot to make it 1:4 after his vision was blocked! Towards the end of the game, Christopher Urstöger started again and was able to score 2:4 for the Sharks. This was also the final score of this game! The Rauch Technology Sharks Gmunden therefore slip to the bottom of the table and the season ends early here too and they move into the play-off of the 1st division. OO National league not made. Tomorrow, Monday, the Sharks will have their last game in the regular season against the league leaders EC Kapsreiter CATFISH instead of.
Report and pictures Peter SOMMER FOTOPRESS
#Ravenblack #day #Gmundner #Haie
