The Budućnost handball team managed to hold a tie against Vipers for 40 minutes but ultimately faced a decisive defeat in the 6th round of the EHF Champions League with a score of 32:23 (15:14).

An unfortunate turn of events led to a critical moment at 19:19, when the seasoned 44-year-old Katrin Lunde, in an effort to initiate a fast break for the Vipers, inadvertently struck Nina Bulatović in the leg. Bulatović had just made a reckless move toward the center after returning from a two-minute exclusion.

Lunde’s mistake allowed the opposing team to embark on a 6:0 scoring run, effectively sealing the game by the 46th minute.

As Maja Savić pointed out prior to the match, the combination of Silje Solberg and Katrin Lunde proved to be the best goalkeeper duo in the world.

The match commenced with Nina Bulatović attempting a penalty shot that hit Solberg directly in the face, leading to a situation where the Podgorica team was temporarily down by two players. Solberg limited our players to only five clear chances from the right wing, while Lunde came in to thwart Jelena Vukčević and Nina Ramusović, stopping their penalty attempts twice in a row.

Despite this, Vipers went into halftime with a slender lead of 15:14, largely attributed to Hauga’s excellent defense and the spirited play of their captain Ivona Pavićević, who was unable to score due to the ineffective attack of her teammates.

In the second half, the game remained tied until 19:19, which was disrupted by the unfortunate incident involving Bulatović.

Budućnost is now left with only a single point and sits at the bottom of the Champions League’s eight-team group, while Vipers improved their record with two wins and a draw.

Jamina Roberts not only played but also led in scoring for the match with seven goals, while Loi Abing did not score for the winning side. Lunde made 11 saves (including two penalties) with a 55 percent success rate, while Solberg had a 30 percent success rate with six saves. Budućnost matched Vipers in terms of total shots taken, both teams registering 40 attempts.

For Budućnost, Ivana Godeč and Pavićević each netted five goals on eight shots, with Jelena Despotović contributing four goals and Nina Blatović three. Sakura Hauge managed 10 saves from 39 shots faced.

Marija Marsenić was only called upon to stop the penalty but was unsuccessful in doing so.

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