No. 1 SK Sugar Gliders and No. 2 Gyeongnam Development Corp. played to a draw in the best-of-three series.
SK Sugar Gliders and Gyeongnam Development Corporation battled to a 30-30 tie in the fourth game of the second round of the Shinhan SOL Pay 23-24 Handball H League Women’s Division at SK Handball Stadium in Songpa-gu, Seoul on Monday.
SK Sugar Gliders remained in first place with nine wins, one draw and one loss and 19 points, while Gyeongnam Development Corporation remained in second place with eight wins, one draw and two losses and 17 points.
In the first half, SK Sugar Gliders’ Kang Kyung-min led the offense with four goals in a row. The Gyeongnam Development Corporation scored their first goal just over five minutes later, and the SK Sugar Gliders took a 5-2 lead.
The Gyeongnam Development Corporation did not catch up easily as they tried to play a pivot play and missed a series of passes. SK Sugar Gliders dominated the first half, with Kang Kyung-min scoring half of the goals.
Gyeongnam Development Corporation created a lot of chances for Heo Yoo-jin as Lee Yeon-kyung took advantage of the crowded defense to pass sideways. SK Sugar Gliders capitalized on the mistake to pull within 9-8, and the game became tense.
The score was tied at one goal apiece as the goalkeepers of both teams took turns making saves, but Gyeongnam Development Corporation ended the first half with a 16-14 lead after taking advantage of a save by Osara.
In the second half, the SK Sugar Gliders took control of the game. They took advantage of Gyeongnam Development Corporation’s mistakes and a two-minute ejection to go up 20-18.
SK Sugar Gliders continued to score with a pivot play utilizing Kang Eun-hye, and Gyeongnam Development Corporation responded with a fast break to cut the lead to one or two points.
With the score 30-29 in favor of SK Sugar Gliders, both goalkeepers made saves to tie the game at 30-30 before Kim Sora scored a goal to tie the 토토 game at 30-30.
The game went back and forth until the very end. With 1 minute and 10 seconds left, Osara made a save to give Gyeongnam Development Corporation the lead. SK Sugar Gliders’ Lee Min-ji made a save, but this time, Osara’s save gave Gyeongnam Development Corporation the last chance. Lee Yeon-kyung’s mid-range shot was saved by Lee Min-ji, making the score 30-30.
The SK Sugar Gliders were led offensively by Kang Kyung-min with 11 goals, Kang Eun-hye and Yoo So-jung with six goals each, and goalkeeper Lee Min-ji with 13 saves. Lee reached 800 career saves. Kang Kyung-min, who scored the most goals in the match, was named the match MVP.
Gyeongnam Development Corporation’s offense was led by Lee Yeon-kyung and Heo Yoo-jin with eight goals apiece, while Osara made 13 saves.
“I’m very disappointed that we drew, but I’m glad we didn’t lose back-to-back games,” said Osara, who saved the game in the last minute in a one-on-one situation. “We still have a lot of difficult games ahead, but we’ll work together and prepare to win the next game.”