Maccabi Rishon LeZion Opens Handball Season With Victory Over Bnei Herzliya

Maccabi Rishon LeZion began their Israeli Handball League season with a 30-25 win against Bnei Herzliya on Tuesday. The match was a makeup game postponed due to Maccabi Rishon LeZion's participation in the European Cup, where they advanced to the next stage. The team, coached by Joe Matatia, secured the win ahead of their first derby of the season against Hapoel Rishon LeZion this Friday.

The game started evenly, but Maccabi Rishon LeZion established a small lead through fast breaks by Nadav Nizri. Eden Jinji extended the advantage to 12-8, and despite Herzliya's efforts to close the gap, Rishon LeZion entered halftime with a 14-11 lead.

In the second half, Assaf Ohayon narrowed the deficit to two goals and later to 22-21. Herzliya managed to equalize in the 48th minute, but Yermi Sidi regained the lead for Maccabi Rishon LeZion, making it 25-23. Goalkeeper Dan Tepper made crucial saves, and Stefanos Michailidis scored a significant goal, sealing the 30-25 victory for Rishon LeZion.

Guy Gra led Maccabi Rishon LeZion's scorers with 8 goals, followed by Nadav Nizri with 6, Lidor Pso with 5, Eden Jinji with 4, Yermi Sidi with 3, Noam Sussana with 2, and Stefanos Michailidis and Dan Tepper with one each. Tepper also excelled in goal with 19 saves at a 47% success rate.

For Bnei Herzliya, Niv Tzurf led with 8 goals, Assaf Ohayon added 6, Bogdan Miyushevich scored 4, Noy Fireman, Nadav Haviv, and Omer Ronen each scored 2, and Nemanja Gojkovic scored one. Herzliya's goalkeeper Lior Shein made 9 saves.