2018–19 Eliteserien (women's handball)

The 2018–19 Eliteserien is the 52nd season of the Eliteserien, Norway's premier handball league.

Eliteserien

Season	2018–19
Champions	Vipers Kristiansand (2nd title)
Relegated	Skrim Kongsberg Rælingen HK
Champions League	Vipers Kristiansand
EHF Cup	Storhamar Elite Tertnes Elite Fredrikstad BK Byåsen Elite
Matches played	148
Goals scored	7,723 (52.18 per match)
Top goalscorer	Ragnhild Valle Dahl (165 goals)
Biggest home win	30 goals: VIP 39–9 LHK
Biggest away win	21 goals: SKR 23–44 TER
Highest scoring	82 goals: VIP 42–40 STO
← 2017–18 2019–20 → All statistics correct as of 22 May 2019.

Team information

A total of 12 teams will be participating in the 2018/19 edition of Eliteserien. 9 teams were qualified directly from the 2017/18 season. The two top ranked teams from the First Division, Fana HE and Skrim Kongsberg, and third-place finisher Rælingen HK who defeated Sola HK in the relegation playoff were promoted to the Eliteserien.

Team.	Town	Arena	Capacity	Byåsen Fana Fredrikstad Gjerpen Larvik Molde Oppsal Rælingen Skrim Storhamar Tertnes Kristiansand Clubs locations in Norway
Byåsen Elite	Trondheim	Trondheim Spektrum	3400
Fana	Bergen	Fana Arena	1300
Fredrikstad BK	Fredrikstad	Kongstenhallen	1500
Gjerpen IF	Skien	Skienshallen	2800
Larvik HK	Larvik	Boligmappa Arena Larvik	4500
Molde HK	Molde	Molde Arena	2000
Oppsal IF	Oslo	Oppsal Arena	5000
Rælingen HK	Rælingen	Marikollhallen
Skrim Kongsberg	Kongsberg	Kongsberghallen
Storhamar Elite	Hamar	Boligpartner Arena	1650
Tertnes Elite	Bergen	Haukelandshallen	5000
Vipers Kristiansand	Kristiansand	Aquarama	2200

Regular season

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Vipers Kristiansand	22	21	0	1	722	465	+257	42	Championship play-offs + advance to Champions League
2	Storhamar Håndball Elite	22	16	1	5	633	525	+108	33	Championship play-offs
3	Tertnes Håndball Elite	22	15	1	6	573	507	+66	31
4	Larvik HK	22	13	1	8	583	513	+70	27
5	Fredrikstad BK	22	13	1	8	575	551	+24	27
6	Byåsen HE	22	11	3	8	577	564	+13	25
7	Molde HK	22	10	3	9	539	541	−2	23
8	Oppsal IF	22	8	0	14	550	602	−52	16
9	Fana HE	22	5	1	16	561	627	−66	11
10	Gjerpen HK Skien	22	5	0	17	520	615	−95	10	Play-off against the third team from First Division
11	Skrim Kongsberg	22	4	2	16	519	685	−166	10	Relegated to First Division
12	Rælingen HK	22	3	3	16	509	666	−157	9

Updated to match(es) played on April 2018. Source:
Rules for classification: 1.) Points in head-to-head matches amongst tied teams; 2.) Goal difference in head-to-head matches amongst tied teams; 3.) Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams; 4.) Points in all matches; 5.) Goal difference in all matches.[1]

Results

In the table below the home teams are listed on the left and the away teams along the top.[2]

Home \ Away	BYÅ	FAN	FBK	GJE	LHK	MOL	OPP	RHK	SKR	STO	TER	VIP
Byåsen Elite		24–24	25–27	32–24	21–28	32–29	28–25	35–25	38–27	23–31	16–20	18–32
Fana	22–28		23–34	26–24	20–19	20–25	28–25	27–23	27–28	22–35	22–25	25–36
Fredrikstad BK	20–28	29–28		33–19	26–24	28–24	33–23	32–24	34–18	21–27	24–19	19–34
Gjerpen HK Skien	20–29	31–30	21–22		23–28	18–26	30–34	33–20	23–18	18–27	22–25	22–34
Larvik HK	26–29	21–18	28–26	37–24		23–19	31–18	31–19	36–19	28–28	29–25	24–25
Molde Elite	21–21	28–27	20–21	21–26	24–27		25–22	26–26	37–29	23–28	28–28	25–19
Oppsal	22–27	29–27	23–28	23–18	21–32	21–23		22–18	34–28	28–34	29–24	21–29
Rælingen	29–29	24–37	33–29	25–19	20–34	20–27	24–30		27–27	11–34	23–25	31–45
Skrim Kongsberg	28–31	29–27	27–27	19–32	24–21	22–23	35–34	20–28		19–33	23–44	22–34
Storhamar Håndball Elite	27–25	40–31	23–19	43–30	23–22	23–24	22–23	36–25	32–19		22–15	19–30
Tertnes Håndball Elite	29–18	29–24	27–23	26–24	28–15	27–22	21–20	31–20	32–21	29–28		20–22
Vipers Kristiansand	28–20	41–26	33–20	37–19	33–19	33–19	37–23	37–14	31–17	40–18	32–24

Source:
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Championship playoffs

Best of three format is applied in all playoff stages, with the higher seeded team playing the second and third game (if necessary) at home. If a game ended with a draw after the regular time, it will proceed to two 5-minutes periods of extra time. If there is still a draw, another 2 × 5-minutes extra time will be played. If the scores are still level after two extra times, the winners are decided by a 7-meter shootout.[3]

Top ranked teams from the regular season choose their opponents in the quarterfinal and semifinal stages.[3] The remaining two highest ranked teams after the quarterfinal stage can not meet in the semifinals.[4]

Bracket

	Quarterfinals							Semifinals							Finals
	1	Vipers Kristiansand	34	44
	8	Oppsal	22	28
								1	Vipers Kristiansand	39	34
								4	Larvik HK	9	17
	7	Molde Elite	24	17	22
	4	Larvik HK	21	21	24
															1	Vipers Kristiansand	42	24
														2	Storhamar Håndball Elite	40	23
	3	Tertnes Håndball Elite	37	24
	5	Fredrikstad BK	28	20
								3	Tertnes Håndball Elite	23	33	22
								2	Storhamar Håndball Elite	25	30	33
	6	Byåsen Elite	21	26
	2	Storhamar Håndball Elite	26	29

Quarterfinals

23 April 18:30	Vipers Kristiansand	34–22	Oppsal	Aquarama, Kristiansand Attendance: 1030 Referees: Varlo, Dasic
	Kristiansen 6	(15–13)	Eklo 7
	2× 2×	Report	1× 2×

26 April 18:30	Oppsal	28–44	Vipers Kristiansand	Oppsal Arena, Oslo Attendance: 377 Referees: Larsen, Johannessen
	Aune 9	(13–19)	Sulland, Tomac 7
	2× 1×	Report	2×

Vipers Kristiansand won series, 2–0.

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23 April 18:00	Larvik HK	21–24	Molde Elite	Boligmappa Arena, Larvik Attendance: 223 Referees: Kvakic, Eriksen
	Molid, Rivas Toft 5	(12–14)	Dahl 9
	2× 6×	Report	2× 2×

26 April 20:00	Molde Elite	17–21	Larvik HK	Molde Arena, Molde Attendance: 1205 Referees: Fjeldskår, Fjellvang
	Dahl 5	(10–10)	Molid 6
	2× 2×	Report	2× 2×

28 April 15:00	Larvik HK	24–22	Molde Elite	Boligmappa Arena, Larvik Attendance: 428 Referees: Johannessen, Larsen
	Bergum 10	(12–10)	Obaidli 5
	2× 1×	Report	2×

Larvik HK won series, 2–1.

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23 April 18:30	Tertnes Håndball Elite	37–28	Fredrikstad BK	Haukelandshallen, Bergen Attendance: 479 Referees: Larsen, Johannessen
	Sørheim 6	(15–15)	Christiansen 6
	3× 4×	Report	3× 1×

26 April 18:00	Fredrikstad BK	20–24	Tertnes Håndball Elite	Kongstenhallen, Fredrikstad Attendance: 307 Referees: Larsen, Launes
	Groa 4	(11–13)	Stankiewicz 6
	3× 1×	Report	1× 1×

Tertnes Håndball Elite won series, 2–0.

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23 April 18:30	Storhamar Håndball Elite	26–21	Byåsen Elite	Boligpartner Arena, Hamar Attendance: 743 Referees: Martinsen, Tekaya
	Løke 9	(10–10)	Aardahl 4
	1× 2×	Report	2× 5×

26 April 18:00	Byåsen Elite	26–29	Storhamar Håndball Elite	Trondheim Spektrum, Trondheim Attendance: 459 Referees: Dasic, Varlo
	Alstad 9	(15–13)	Skinnehaugen, Venn 6
	3× 5×	Report	1× 4×

Storhamar Håndball Elite won series, 2–0.

Semifinals

1 May 17:00	Vipers Kristiansand	39–9	Larvik HK	Aquarama, Kristiansand Attendance: 1110 Referees: Kvakic, Eriksen
	Olsen 6	(20–3)	Løwe 3
	2×	Report	1× 1×

3 May 18:00	Larvik HK	17–34	Vipers Kristiansand	Boligmappa Arena, Larvik Attendance: 243 Referees: Johannessen, Larsen
	Ramberg 8	(9–17)	Refsnes 8
		Report

Vipers Kristiansand won series, 2–0.

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1 May 16:00	Storhamar Håndball Elite	25–23	Tertnes Håndball Elite	Boligpartner Arena, Hamar Attendance: 910 Referees: Martinsen, Tekaya
	Løke 7	(13–11)	Solås 4
	2× 2×	Report	1× 1×

4 May 18:15	Tertnes Håndball Elite	33–30	Storhamar Håndball Elite	Fana Arena, Bergen Attendance: 721 Referees: Isachsen, Hell
	Solås 8	(14–16)	Venn 7
	2× 2×	Report	1× 2×

7 May 19:15	Storhamar Håndball Elite	33–22	Tertnes Håndball Elite	Boligpartner Arena, Hamar Attendance: 1012 Referees: Nygren, Borge
	Riegelhuth 9	(15–13)	Solås 5
	2× 5×	Report	2× 4×

Storhamar Håndball Elite won series, 2–1.

Finals

18 May 18:15	Vipers Kristiansand	42–40 (ET)	Storhamar Håndball Elite	Aquarama, Kristiansand Attendance: 1590 Referees: Nygren, Borge
	Refsnes 10	(17–18)	Nestaker 17
	3× 5× 1×	Report	2× 4×
	FT: 34–34 ET: 8–6

21 May 19:15	Storhamar Håndball Elite	23–24	Vipers Kristiansand	Boligpartner Arena, Hamar Attendance: 1363 Referees: Isachsen, Hell
	Nestaker 8	(11–14)	Arntzen, Aune, Sulland, Reistad 4
	3× 2×	Report	3× 3×

Vipers Kristiansand won the final series, 2–0.

2018–19 Eliteserien Champions
Vipers Kristiansand 2nd title

Eline Fagerheim, Katrine Lunde, Malin Aune, Carolina Morais, Karine Emilie Dahlum, Karoline Olsen, Vilde Jonassen, Sunniva Næs Andersen, Mathilde Kristensen, Pernille Wibe, Hanna Yttereng, Emilie Hegh Arntzen, Jeanett Kristiansen, Henny Reistad, Tonje Haugjord Refsnes, Marta Tomac, Silje Waade, Linn Jørum Sulland (C), Josefine Intelhus

Head Coach

Ole Gustav Gjekstad

Season statistics

Top goalscorers

Regular season As of the end of the regular season.[2] Rank Player Club Goals 1 Ragnhild Valle Dahl Molde Elite 148 2 Madeleine Hilby Tertnes HE 133 3 Mari Molid Larvik HK 132 4 Emilie Hovden Fana HE 131 5 Christine Alver Fana HE 128 6 Linn Jørum Sulland Vipers Kristiansand 122 7 Eira Aune Oppsal 120 8 Betina Riegelhuth Storhamar HE 114 9 Trine Haugstad Skrim Kongsberg 107 10 Cathrine Korvald Skrim Kongsberg 105

Playoffs As of the end of the playoffs.[5] Rank Player Club Goals 1 Guro Nestaker Storhamar HE 37 Heidi Løke Storhamar HE 3 Kristin Venn Storhamar HE 28 4 Tonje Enkerud Storhamar HE 26 5 Jeanett Kristiansen Vipers Kristiansand 25 6 Linn Jørum Sulland Vipers Kristiansand 24 7 Elise Skinnehaugen Storhamar HE 8 Kjerstin Boge Solås Tertnes HE 23 9 Emilie Hegh Arntzen Vipers Kristiansand 10 Henny Reistad Vipers Kristiansand 22 Betina Riegelhuth Storhamar HE

Overall As of the end of the season.[2][5] Rank Player Club Goals 1 Ragnhild Valle Dahl Molde Elite 165 2 Linn Jørum Sulland Vipers Kristiansand 146 3 Mari Molid Larvik HK 145 4 Madeleine Hilby Tertnes HE 142 5 Betina Riegelhuth Storhamar HE 136 6 Eira Aune Oppsal 134 7 Emilie Hovden Fana HE 131 8 Christine Alver Fana HE 128 9 Jeanett Kristiansen Vipers Kristiansand 112 10 Trine Haugstad Skrim Kongsberg 107

Attendances

As of the end of the regular season.[2]

Pos	Team	Total	High	Low	Average	Change
1	Vipers Kristiansand	14,893	1,914 (vs. Larvik)	977 (vs. Rælingen)	1,354	-10,99%
2	Molde HK	11,697	1,420 (vs. Vipers)	913 (two matches)	1,063	-0,08%
3	Tertnes Håndball Elite	11,191	2,610 (vs. Fana)	541 (vs. Oppsal)	1,017	+116,88%
4	Storhamar Håndball Elite	10,723	1,589 (vs. Vipers)	611 (vs. Fana)	975	-14,71%
5	Fana HE^[1]	8,734	1,103 (vs. Larvik)	520 (vs. Skrim)	794	+370,08%
6	Byåsen HE	8,455	1,595 (vs. Vipers)	525 (two matches)	769	-40,42%
7	Fredrikstad BK	6,682	1,117 (vs. Larvik)	201 (vs. Skrim)	607	-22,34%
8	Larvik HK	5,686	668 (vs. Gjerpen)	381 (vs. Oppsal)	517	-13,82%
9	Oppsal IF	4,024	521 (vs. Vipers)	125 (vs. Skrim)	366	-28,56%
10	Rælingen HK^[1]	3,943	751 (vs. Vipers)	192 (vs. Molde)	358	+39,77%
11	Skrim Kongsberg^[1]	3,391	470 (vs. Vipers)	159 (vs. Fredrikstad)	308	+1.74%
12	Gjerpen HK Skien	3,268	625 (vs. Larvik)	121 (vs. Molde)	297	-33,35%
Total		92,677	2610 (Tertnes vs. Fana)	121 (Gjerpen vs. Molde)	702	-8,04%

¹ Teams that played last season in First Division.

Note: Attendance numbers without playoff matches.

Number of teams by regions

No. teams	Region	Teams
3	Øst	Fredrikstad BK, Oppsal, Rælingen HK
1	Innlandet	Storhamar Håndball Elite
3	Sør	Gjerpen HK Skien, Larvik HK, Skrim Kongsberg
1	SørVest	Vipers Kristiansand
2	Vest	Fana, Tertnes Håndball Elite
2	Nord	Byåsen Elite, Molde Elite

Relegation playoff

24 April 18:00	Gjerpen HK Skien	29–26	Follo HK	Skienshallen, Skien Attendance: 347 Referees: Launes, Larsen
	Løvdal, Gulmark 7	(13–8)	Magnus 6
	3× 1×	Report	2×

28 April 18:00	Follo HK	21–22	Gjerpen HK Skien	Langhus Hallen, Ski Attendance: 502 Referees: Kvakic, Eriksen
	Magnus 6	(15–9)	Løvdal 6
	2× 3×	Report	2× 3×

Gjerpen HK Skien won series, 2–0 and avoided from the relegation.

References

1. "Rekkefølgeberegning". handball.no (in Norwegian). Norwegian Handball Federation. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
2. "Kampprogram - Eliteserien" (in Norwegian). NHF. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
3. "Kvartfinaler Kvinner". handball.no (in Norwegian). Norwegian Handball Federation. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
4. "Semifinaler Sluttspill Kvinner". handball.no (in Norwegian). Norwegian Handball Federation. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
5. "Sluttspill Eliteserien kvinner, Håndballsesongen 2018/2019". handball.no (in Norwegian). Norwegian Handball Federation. Retrieved 12 May 2019.

External links

• Norwegian Handball Federaration (in Norwegian)