Central Mysticks in second place
Central Mysticks women have narrowly missed lifting the K Cup trophy at the National Hockey League tournament, coming second to North Harbour.
They qualified for the final in Wellington on Sunday after a nailbiting week of games, but went down 2-0 to Harbour, having beaten them earlier in the week in shootouts. Their silver medal finish was an improvement on last year’s fifth place and coach Robbie Matthews said it was the first time in seven years that Central had made the finals.
The women started the tournament well, beating Capital 4-0 in a match held in Hawke’s Bay the weekend before the rest of the action.
They lost their first match in Wellington to Midlands 2-1 but Central bounced back, beating Southern 1-0 and North Harbour 2-3 in shootouts after a 0-all draw.
They then played Auckland, losing 3-2, which made their chances of making the finals shaky.
But the odds swung back in their favour when they beat Canterbury in shootouts and thrashed Northland 4-0.
In the men’s competition, the Central Mavericks finished fifth, after coming sixth last year.
They started off with a 5-0 loss to Capital in Wellington the weekend before tournament kicked off, but turned it around in their next game, beating Southern 3-0.
A tough game against Auckland saw them go down 4-1 and they also lost to North Harbour in shootouts.
This meant their match against Canterbury was a must-win to make semifinals and the men pulled through, winning 4-3.
However, a loss against Midlands 4-3 quashed their chances and sent them to the fifth and sixth playoffs, where they beat Midlands 7-2.
Dylan Thomas, from Hawke’s Bay, was second-equal on the goal-scoring ladder, with eight.