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| Jeon Ji-yeon / Photo provided by the Korea Handball Federation |
The match, part of the Shinhan SOL Bank 25-26 Handball H League women's schedule, was held on the evening of the 2nd at 6 p.m. at the Samcheok Citizens Gymnasium in Gangwon Province.
Samcheok City Hall, intent on securing second place, remained in that spot with a 13-1-4 record (27 points). Gyeongnam Development Corporation, focused on holding fourth, stayed fourth at 7-4-7 (18 points). The draw kept both teams a safe margin over the chasing clubs for now.
Samcheok seized early control in the first half, breaking through Gyeongnam’s defense to build a 6-3 lead. When Gyeongnam found it difficult to penetrate Samcheok’s tight defense, they relied on pivot play by Kim So-ra and wing attacks from Yoo Hye-jung to get their offense going.
Park So-yeon was sent off for two minutes, giving Gyeongnam a temporary numerical advantage, but consecutive turnovers prevented them from capitalizing. Samcheok pushed the lead to 8-4 on a mid-range shot by Lee Yeon-kyung and a fast break finished by Jeon Ji-yeon.
Kim Yeon-woo sparked Gyeongnam’s response with a goal after 11 minutes, then added two more in succession to cut the deficit to 11-7. Samcheok closed the first half up 14-10.
Early in the second half, Gyeongnam took advantage of Samcheok’s mistakes with back-to-back fast breaks to quickly close to 15-14. The teams traded runs and the game tightened, but another spell of errors by Gyeongnam allowed Samcheok to pull back ahead to 22-18.
With errors limiting Gyeongnam’s chances, goalkeeper O Sara’s saves became the catalyst for a comeback. Consecutive goals from Shin Ye-eun and Lee Yeon-song put Gyeongnam up 25-24 and shifted momentum, but the match ultimately finished in a 25-25 draw.
Lee Yeon-song, who helped spark the late charge, said, \"I'm disappointed I couldn't take the final shot. A win would have been great, but we trailed for most of the game, so a draw isn't a bad result. Even when we're behind, our teamwork keeps morale up, and that helped us rally. We'll win the remaining three games and make sure we reach the postseason.\"
[Sports Today reporter Shin Seo-young sports@stoo.com]
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