The pinnacle of Reichert’s season so far was in the quarter-finals against Romanian side SCM Ramnicu Valcea, when the goal machine was on fire with 15 goals in the first leg and 11 strikes in the reverse fixture.
“If someone had told me before that this would happen, I would have told them they are completely crazy. You can never expect something like that, especially not when you're playing against a top team like Valcea,” Reichert says.
“The first leg in particular was an exceptional day, you might have a game like that once or twice in your career, everything really worked. But I also have to say that it worked well again under the pressure in Valcea.”
Thüringer have come to Graz all the way from qualification. They eliminated Vác in the qualifiers and were then drawn into group A alongside H.C. Dunarea Braila, Larvik, and ATTICGO Bm Elche. THC reached the quarter-finals at the last gasp, with a 27:26 victory against Elche in the final group match, finishing second behind Braila.
The gate to the EHF Finals seemed wide open after winning the first leg 35:29 against Valcea on home ground, but Thüringer HC were extremely shaken in Romania.
“This match was a real rollercoaster ride with crazy emotions. We played really well for 25 minutes, but then the deficit grew with every glance at the scoreboard and suddenly we were seven goals down,” remembers Reichert.
“I really don't know how we finally managed it. Our goalkeeper Dinah Eckerle definitely saved us at the end.”
