Esbjerg beat Lokomotiva for third consecutive win

HC Lokomotiva Zagreb (CRO) vs Team Esbjerg (DEN) 18:30 (8:14)

• Lokomotiva scored their first goal in the eighth minute of the match after Amalie Milling's three saves out of three Croatian attempts
• Esbjerg were playing strongly in defence, not making it easy for Lokomotiva and after a four-goal run at 7:3, they were holding onto their lead
• Lokomotiva's head coach Nenad Sostaric tried to make a change to a 5-1 defence but the Danish side did not have a problem with it, the home side's goalkeeper Lena Ivancok was doing her best, stopping nine attempts
• a double-digit Esbjerg's lead (19:9) was hit in the 39th minute after a nice shot from Kristine Breistøl; the difference between the teams could be seen from the attack efficiency - Lokomotiva were at 34%, while Esbjerg had 60%
• Henny Reistad was Esbjerg's top scorer with seven goals, while Ana Malec netted six times making her Lokomotiva's best scorer

Every player making an impact

The Danish powerhouse has many famous names in their ranks, like Nora Mørk, Henny Reistad, Rikke Poulsen, Kathrine Heindahl and Vilde Mortensen Ingstad among others. Even though Poulsen and Ingstad did not travel to Croatia and Esbjerg had only 12 players in the squad, their quality was clear. Jesper Jensen's team proved every player eligible to play can make an impact. With the absence of Rikke Poulsen between the posts, 22-year-old Amalie Milling took over the role and finished the night with 13 saves at 44% efficiency, staying above that percentage throughout the match. In the attack, all ten outfield players scored at least once with Women's EHF EURO 2022 MVP Henny Reistad leading the way with seven goals.