Harvestehuder THC, Uhlenhorst Mülheim, Mannheimer HC and Rot-Weiss Köln all have the advantage from the first leg of the German men’s playoff quarter-finals.
Harvestehuder THC won the first leg in Hamburg against city rivals Club an der Alster, coming back from 1-0 down at half-time to succeed 3-2 with goals from Nick Spooner, Nqobile Ntuli and Michael Körper.
Uhlenhorst Mülheim left it late to defeat Hamburger Polo Club 2-1 with Alex von Schwerin netting the crucial goal with one minute to go.
Rot-Weiss Köln took the laurels from their first leg against UHC Hamburg in a shoot-out with Vincent Vanasch shining.
In normal time, Christopher Rühr gave Rot-Weiss a 24th minute lead only for Cameron Golden to level soon after. UHC took the lead in the second half via Gian Lucca Graffitti but the Köln side levelled once more via Fabio Seitz. In the shoot-out, Vanasch kept out three efforts to hand his side the victory.
Mannheimer HC also won a shoot-out with success at Berliner HC. Paul Zmyslony had given Manhheim the lead in the 34th minute but they only stayed in front for two minutes before Tim Strüven made it 1-1.
Mannheim – with Lukas Stumpf to the fore – won 3-2, the defining moment a stroke save from Jonas Gomoll.
The return fixtures will take place in Hamburg on May 28 with the winners from game one requiring one more success from their best of three games to qualify for the Final4 in Bonn.