Hockey fans at the women’s EuroHockey Club Trophy will be in for a treat tomorrow as they watch Minsk take on home side Munchner in the final pool game of the competition. The prize for the winner will be a place in the final on Monday, with their opponents likely to be either the high flying Club Campo de Madrid or GHC Ritm Grodno. The Spanish side hold all the aces at the moment, but the team from Belarus will be hoping that Menzieshill will record their first win of the tournament.
Grove Menzieshill vs Pegasus 2-3
This was a feisty fixture that matched the weather, as another day of hot temperatures made the pace of the game at EuroHockey Club Trophy 2017 uncomfortable for the players.
Grove Menzieshill got off to the better start, with Judith McMullan slamming the ball into the net from a penalty corner in the seventh minute of the game. Pegasus quickly rallied however, captain Alex Speers bringing the scores level in the 12th minute, with a beautifully taken goal from open play. No sooner had play resumed than Speers was at it again. Her unerring eye for the net saw her take her second goal and put her team in the lead.
In the second quarter, Pegasus grew into the game. A series of linking passes resulted in a chance for Hannah Grieve to strike the ball home – something she did in style.
After the break, Menzieshill really turned up the pressure. One goal was disallowed as dangerous but Carol Louise managed to bring the scores closer in the 48th minute with a penalty corner strike. Despite pressure from the Scottish side, Pegasus hung onto their lead.
Speaking after the game, Pegasus’s Hannah Grieve said: “It was a tight game and they came at us hard early on to take the lead. But we regrouped and scored two quick goals. The last quarter, they pressed high but we put in some resolute defending.”
Club Campo de Madrid vs Grodno 4-2
Club Campo de Madrid continue to score freely as they put four goals past GHC Ritm Grodno and sealed their position a top of Pool B
The Spanish side showed their intent early as they tackled hard from the first whistle and shot into the lead through a great shot from Sara Barrios.
Grodno were never going to capitulate however, and they remained a dangerous threat throughout the second quarter. The team from Belarus were rewarded for their strong defence and willingness to take the game to Campo Madrid as they scored the equaliser in the 33rd minute, through captain Volha Shyntar.
Just a minute later, Grodno took the lead through Nadzeva
Silitskaya who burst into the circle and fired into the back of the net.
The clearly rattled Spanish team rallied and Belen Iglesias Marcos was on hand to slot the ball home and bring the scores level again.
At this point Campo Madrid really began to pile on the pressure. Quick passing left Grodno chasing shadows and many fouls were drawn. Irina Valoshyna in particular picked up a yellow card, followed by a red, after a succession of fouls. The red card mean she will miss the next game.
Driving home the advantage, Perez Lagunas put her team ahead in the 44th minute and Carmen Cano Ruiz followed up with her team’s fourth in the 51st minute.
Madrid’s Amparo Gil summed up her team’s performance: “We started the game focused and created scoring chances. Unfortunately, we just did it once in the first half.
“After the break, we didn’t start well, they put on some more pressure and we made some mistakes allowing them to score twice. Then we had a good reaction and we were able to win the match after all. We need to learn from today mistakes.”
SG Amiscora ASD vs HC Minsk 3-6
This pool A match was a high scoring affair, with Minsk running out victors after a breathless 60 minutes of action. For Amiscora, the result is a bitter one as they scored three good goals but defensively were not able to cope with the Belarus team.
HC Minsk took the lead in the seventh minute, with Viktoryia Raiskaya creating space to shoot the ball home. Amsicora came straight back and their pressure yielded a penalty stroke, which Maryna Vynohradova had no hesitation in placing past ‘keeper Aliona Bautko.
The Sardinian side took the lead in the 21st minute through Federica Carta but HC Minsk came straight back to even the score as Hanna Tsabrova took advantage of some speedy passing by her team mates. HC Minsk moved into the lead in the 28th minute when Elena Sazhina scored a nicely placed goal.
Yuliya Yubko scored Minsk’s fourth in the 42nd, slamming the ball in the goal after a penalty corner and three minutes later Sazhinascored her second and Minsk’s fifth.
In the last quarter SG Amsicora gave it everything. Teresa Dalla Vittoria scored with 10 minutes left on the clock and Amiscora continued to press forward in waves. Minsk held on and, in the 58th minute, extended their lead through Yauheniya Filipovich.
“We only came here to win,” said Elena Sazhina, “If we lose tomorrow, we will lose with beautiful hockey. But we hope to win again.”
Sumchanka vs Münchner 0-3
Münchner got off to a slow start and it was not until the second quarter that they began to show their dominance. Michelle Strobel scored the breakthrough from open play after the intensity and speed of the home side’s passing began to take its toll on Sumchanka.
Hayley Brown doubled the lead four minutes later and then the result was inevitable as the German team held possession well and made the opposition do all the running. The third goal came from Elena Willig, again from open play.
“The game was difficult. we tried to be strong and fast but the opposition were very fast, too fast for us.” said Olha Honcharenko. Nataliia Honcharenko added: “We created some chances but didn’t score. We tried our best but this is not the result we hoped for.”
Munchner’s Celine Marquet said: “Our game went well. We had a game plan and that was to not let the other team get into it at all. We took our time to get into the game and get the first goal but then we were in the game and played great offence and defence.”
Sunday 4 June
Fixtures (local time)
10:00 Grodno vs Pegasus (Pool B)
12:15 Menzieshill vs Campo Madrid (Pool B)
14:30 Amiscora vs Sumchanka (Pool A)
16:45 Münchner vs Minsk (Pool A)
EuroHockey Club Trophy 2017 Women – Munich, Germany – Day 2