Montpellier-Le Havre – HAC debut for Katriina!

Katriina made her Le Havre debut last Friday when HAC travelled to Montpellier for their D1 Arkema away game against Montpellier HSC.

– I was really excited. Just wanted to enjoy the moment and of course do my best, she says.

Katriina hadn’t stood between the posts in a game situation since the end of September when she was on U23 national team duty with Finland.

– I wasn’t that nervous. I had of course played a lot in training. I was pretty confident about myself and it was just fun to get to play.

Katriina has had a healthy autumn. She’s been training hard with Le Havre and just waiting for her chance to show what she can do.

– I’m in great shape and training has been good. In the game it just felt like that’s where I belong. I didn’t make any mistakes or anything. It was just fun to play again.

Montpellier beat HAC 2–1. The home team got the lead early on in the game and managed to score the winner in the 75th minute, just a few minutes after HAC’s Salome Elisor had levelled the score.

– I think the game went well. The first half was a bit tricky for us and they got their first goal. But we got going and had some chances ourselves. We could’ve and should’ve scored too.

– I had some work to do in the goal. A couple of saves, a couple of corners to deal with and some build-up play to do. In the second half I had to make a couple of big saves. I think I did well, so I’m happy with that.

Katriina had to make nine saves in total against Montpellier and she made 19 clearances from backpasses from team mates or from long balls from the opposition. Of her 26 passes only one didn’t make it to a team mate, which means her pass completion rate was as high as 96 percent.

Katriina is now enjoying her ten-day Christmas break in Finland. Le Havre returns to training on 28th December.

– I’m of course looking forward to the second half of the season in the spring 2024. Now it’s nice to be back home, spend some time with my family and have a little break from football.