Final contenders found for hockey finals
The men’s division 1 final features new teams in contention for the top spot after the reigning champs were knocked out in semifinals. Marist beat College in penalty shootouts in what was a nail-biting match on Saturday, with two lots of extra time before the shootouts. Marist scored early in the first quarter and College responded quickly, drawing the score at 1-1 before the first quarter was through. That was how it stayed, with no other shots able to make it across the line. After the game finished with a draw, the teams went into the first period of extra time, which was six minutes, with nine players on the field. Marist looked close to scoring, but their shots weren’t on target and College gained multiple penalty corners, but couldn’t get any reward. This saw them play a second set of extra time, which was six minutes, with only seven on the field. College dominated this second set and held most of the possession, but could not get in the circle to gain the desperately needed goal. Once this extra time resulted in no goals, the winner was determined by shootouts, with Marist taking it out. In the other men’s semifinal, High School Hockey Club beat Massey 3-1. Massey came out firing, scoring the first goal of the match off a penalty corner. HSHC quickly replied with a goal of their own, making it 1-1. Massey gained another penalty corner, but failed to convert and HSHC took their opportunity and moved the ball quickly up the other end of the turf to score, taking their lead to 2-1. In the dying minutes of the fourth quarter, Massey subbed their goalkeeper off to push an extra player into their striker line, but a strong HSHC attack used this to their advantage and slotted another goal in with only moments to go. In the women’s semifinal, College beat Palmerston North Girls’ High School 4-1. College came out firing in the first quarter, dominating Girls’ High and putting the young team under pressure. The first two goals were scored quickly in the first quarter by Emma Rainey and Kirsty Lawrence. By the third quarter College had lost some intensity and Girls’ High were given more chances on attack, putting College’s defence under pressure and causing messy periods of play. Baylee Whenuroa eventually cracked through College’s defence to score Girls’ High’s goal, but College didn’t drop their heads and continued fighting till the end, although they were unable to convert any more chances. Natasha Cowx-chesnutt and Rebecca Symes also scored for College. HSHC automatically made finals after coming first in pool play. They played Massey in a non-competition game on Saturday, winning 12-3. The finals take place on Saturday. HSHC take on College in the women’s final at 2pm, followed by the men’s, where HSHC take on Marist at 4pm.