Reistad leads Norway back to semi-finals

EHF / Courtney Gahan

14 November 2022, 19:35

Record EHF EURO winners Norway will continue their title defence, as they became the first semi-finalists at the 2022 edition thanks to a thrilling 26:23 victory over Slovenia. The game was on the edge all the way, with the outcome decided only in the last three minutes.

It was Slovenia’s narrowest loss to Norway since the 2003 World Championship, when they were defeated by one goal.

With her second goal, for 13:13 in the 26th minute, Ana Gros became the all-time top scorer for the Slovenia women’s team overall, after becoming the team’s all-time top scorer at the EURO earlier in the competition. Her career total in the national team now stands at 690.

GROUP I

Norway vs Slovenia 26:23 (16:15)

Norway secured the victory after a completely level game, with Henny Reistad pulling them in front by two with just over two minutes to go and the Scandinavian team powering to the buzzer from there
Slovenia enjoyed a strong opening, pulling ahead to 6:3 lead at the 10-minute mark, before Norway fought back, driven by two consecutive goals from back Reistad. Reistad played a crucial role for Norway, scoring 10 goals, with many in the moments her team most needed them and earning the player of the match award
after 6:6 in the 14th minute, Slovenia reopened a two-goal gap once more, at 8:6, but after that the edge was only ever at one for either side until the last three minutes
Amra Pandzic had a great opening between the posts, before Maja Vojnovic came into goal and stole the Slovenian show with eight saves at a rate of 42 per cent
Reistad and Gros both climbed the EHF EURO 2022 top scorer chart in this match, reaching first and (joint) second position, respectively

𝗠𝗶𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗿𝘁 🚨 Ana Gros just became the 𝐀𝐥𝐥-𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐩 𝐒𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐫 in @rzs_si 's history! Congratulations, Ana 👏🇸🇮 #ehfeuro2022 | #playwithheart pic.twitter.com/hssloaT3jh
— EHF EURO (@EHFEURO) November 14, 2022

Slovenia cement their legacy

It hardly matters what happens now — whether they reach the final weekend or not, Slovenia’s home EHF EURO has been a resounding success and the tournament has absolutely created a new legacy for women’s handball in a country where the men’s side have brought the biggest successes.

Two wins from three preliminary round matches, another to open the main round and now a very strong showing against the record title holders at the EHF EURO, and all of it in front of a new record crowd of the Slovenian women's national team (5,648 spectators) really getting behind the team. Slovenia’s biggest EHF EURO defeats in history were against Norway — 18:41 in 2004 and 20:43 in 2006. On Monday night, they played on equal footing with the Scandinavian powerhouse.

The co-hosts have at least one more game at the EHF EURO 2022, against Hungary on the last main round day on Wednesday. Let’s see what they can achieve.

Slovenia have been playing really great. In this atmosphere they even have more energy. But we love to play in a good atmosphere – even when this is not with us. Today we were not 100% in this, the passes to each other, technical mistakes... but this is like it is, this is handball.

Kristine Lunde

Norway goalkeeper