Danas Win With a Commanding Performance Against the USA

The Danas of Germany won the first game of the FIH Pro League this Saturday in the SparkassenPark in Mönchengladbach in front of 1,400 spectators against the USA 2-0.

The goals were scored by Hanna Granitzki in the 35th minute and captain Sonja Zimmermann in the 45th minute after a penalty corner. National coach Valentin Altenburg was not on the sidelines for a short time due to a positive corona test. His deputy was assistant coach Johannes Schmitz.

The Danas pressed up from the start, giving the Americans little time to breathe. After an uneventful few minutes, in which the Danas, while dominating the field but failing to create any compelling scoring chances, were forced to take a penalty corner in the 8th minute before the American goal opened up for the first time. Laura Saenger’s shot narrowly missed its target. Two minutes later, the Americans also received their first penalty corner after video evidence. Goalkeeper Julia Sonntag was able to parry Ashley Hoffmann’s shot. Shortly before the end of the first quarter (15th), it was again the Americans who appeared dangerously in the German circle, but Sonntag was able to fend off the shot from the left-hand side with a schooner.

The Danas were able to create the first chance in the second quarter, but Hanna Granitzki’s shot swept wide of the far post (20′). Just one minute (21st) Elisa Gräve failed with an Argentinian backhand against the American goalkeeper Kelsey Bing. Anne Schröder also failed at Bing in the 24th minute, her shot after a stick foul was too central. After 27 minutes it was Charlotte Gerstenhöfer who was unable to accommodate a cross from Pia Maertens in the goal. Shortly before the end of the first half (28th), the Danas received their second penalty corner, which turned out to be too harmless. Immediately afterwards, the video evidence had to be used to punish an American woman who was hit in the foot. But the third penalty corner of the Danas did not lead to a goal either.

In the third quarter it only took a few seconds (31st) for the American goalkeeper to be tested again. However, Kelsey Bing was able to parry a direct acceptance of Ida Köllinger with one hand. After 35 minutes the Dana’s ban was broken, a cross from the left by Hanna Granitzki was converted by Hanna Granitzki at the near post to make it 1-0. Goalkeeper Julia Sonntag almost equalized with an inadequate defensive attempt, but Brooke Derberdine put the ball just wide of the goal (43). Almost immediately afterwards, it was Olivia Bent-Cole who ran freely towards the German goal, but her shot was denied by Julia Sonntag (44). Just seconds before the end of the third quarter, the Danas received another penalty corner. Captain Sonja Zimmermann converted the corner placed on the bottom left to make it 2-0 (45th).

The Danas were now trying not to let the Americans come back into the game, letting the ball and opponents run. A shot from Hanna Granitzki in the 47th minute rushed just wide of the left post. Five minutes before the end (50th), Lena Micheel received the green card for boarding too hard and thus put her team outnumbered for two minutes. A little later, the Americans received their second penalty corner of the game, but goalkeeper Julia Sonntag was able to parry the shot. In the final minutes, mistakes in the German game increased, but the Americans could no longer make a profit from them.

Comments on the game: 

 Johannes Schmitz, assistant coach 

“Basically, I am very satisfied with the result. We got into the circle with patience and determination, but often failed to get the pace into the final quarter. The United States did everything they could to do with it. They were the fighting team we expected and managed to create really good chances. We sometimes lacked consistency in the duels and made slight mistakes that allowed the USA to come back into the circle again and again. We’ll work on creating even more pressure in the opponent’s quarters so maybe we can score more goals tomorrow.” 

 Paulina Niklaus, defender 

“Today I played my first game with Danas. It was great fun and it was a great experience to play in a stadium like this.” 
 

Anne Schroeder, forward 

“Basically we are of course happy to have scored three points at home in this great stadium and in front of this crowd. We have to keep working on the playfulness, we are developing from game to game. A lot of things were better today than in the last two games. We can take a lot with us for tomorrow’s game and then we’ll close the sack tomorrow.” 

Game details: 

The following players were used for Germany: