Winning Weekend
Despite EHC's loss on Friday, the local teams didn't let that spoil their weekends and all came away with points, one even with a championship! FC Augsburg contined their path to the Bundesliga next season, and Bayern Basketball clinched the ProA championship.
There were many goals and points for the other clubs - here's you Monday Morning Wrap.
Ribéry aids in Bayern's escape in Freiburg - FC Bayern München have only one reason to keep playing this season, and they were minutes away from losing that Saturday in Freiburg.
Until Franck Ribéry displayed his brillance, scoring in the 88th minute to give Bayern a 2-1 victory to keep the club's dreams alive for a Champions League berth next season.
"We were lucky not to be behind in the first half," said head coach Louis van Gaal. "We didn't play well. But in the second half, we turn things around, and at the end, we got some luck to win."
The win was important to keep pace as both teams in front of Munich also won, Leverkusen 2-0 over Schalke and Hannover also 2-nil over Hoffenheim. Bayern sit 2 points out of the qualification spot currently held by Hannover.
The match started off well for Bayern as Mario Gomez took a free kick from Ribéry and headed it into goal in the 9th minute. Five minutes later, goalkeeper Thomas Kraft stopped a penalty shot from Papiss Demba Cissé. However Cissé was not to be denied in the 17th, as he got past the defense and Kraft for the equalizer.
After the past weeks that included losses that eliminated FCB from the league title, domestic cup and Champions League, the longer this match lasted without a Bayern lead, the more the frustration grew. Until Ribéry dribbled the ball from the far side into the middle, and shot one to the far post, and scoring to keep his team alive.
"So many times this season, we played well and were the better team but lost," added captain Philipp Lahm. "Today we were lucky at the end and got a late goal. We were able to steal three points and that's the most important."
Lions roar at home - Head coach Reiner Maurer wanted to give the fans of TSV 1860 München a victory after the news that the team may cease operations in two weeks. Earlier in the evening, club management announced that they have 12 days to play 8 million Euros. The club may not have lots of money, but they had plenty of goals on Friday night.
Kevin Volland scored a brace to lead the Lions to a 5-1 victory over Karlsruher SC at the Allianz Arena.
"After six winless home match, it was a good to see what kind of performance we could bring to our fans," said Maurer.
Volland started the scoring in the 8th minute, Kai Bülow added one in the 21st minute, and Daniel Halfar gave 1860 a 3-0 lead into the halftime break with his goal in the 35th minute.
Midway through the second half, KSC defender Kiliann Witschi's pass deep in his area was intercepted by Volland, made it 4-0 with a clinical finish in the 68th minute. Lions leading scorer Benjamin Lauth's goal in the 77th minute was icing on the cake. The only negative on the pitch was not earning a clean sheet, as the Lions inability to clear the ball gave Karlsruher's Alexander Iashvili a clear shot to goal and he converted.
"We wanted to go all out from the beginning, that quick goal was very important," said goal scorer Volland. "That was a great match for the whole team. Till the end, we did not take our foot off the pedal. Because of that, we rewarded ourselves with the win."
After the international break, TSV are at Alemannia Aachen on Sunday, April 3rd. It remains to be seen if they can return home on Saturday, April 9th to host FC Energie Cottbus.
Ingolstadt draw with Hertha - Marvin Matip headed in a shot in the 86th minute to help Ingolstadt earn a 1-1 draw with second division Bundesliga leaders Hertha Berlin and stay above the relegation zone.
Hertha went up 1-0 in the 70th minute, taking advantage of a defensive turnover in the area by Malte Metzelder. The ball ended up on Pierre-Michel Lasogga's foot and he drilled it in. Hertha remain on top of the table with 56 points, 2 points clear of FC Augsburg who beat Red-White Oberhausen.
The draw ends a three-match winning streak for FCI, but gain an all important point in the relegation battle. Ingolstadt will travel to take on FC Energie Cottbus on April 1st.
Who can stop Haching? - On Saturday evening Generali Haching won 3-0 (25-15, 25-20, 27-25) in Rottenburg against EnBW TV. The win allows Mihai Paduretu's men to hold onto the second spot in the Volleyball Bundesliga.
Without Tomas Kmet and Leo dos Santos in the starting lineup, Unterhaching played very well in the first part of the game and won the first set 25-15. Good services, effective receptions and continuous blocks were the secret of Haching's perfect first set.
The good performance of Roy Friedrich and Kmet and as usual captain Max Günthör made the difference in the second set (25-20). In the third set the home team succeeded in staying close to the Bavarians but the experience of Unterhaching's players allowed them to win this hard-fought set 27-25.
MVP was Paul Carroll (seventh time this season). Paduretu's team will play next Sunday in Bottrop against RWE Volleys, first serve at 16:00.
Simone Sperduto contributed to this article.
