Midlands back their defence
For the Midlands women, like everyone else, the National Hockey League starts now.
All eight teams will line up in the quarterfinals today, so they all have a shot at advancing, no matter how good or bad their record in pool play at the National Hocky Stadium in Wellington was.
Midlands’ was pretty good - they finished second in pool B, which has earned them a match against the third-placed team from pool A - the hometown Capital Cyclones.
With wins over the Central Mysticks (4-1) and North Harbour (1-0) in their last two matches, the team have bounced back strongly from their opening day loss to Northland, and cemented themselves among the contenders for the K Cup, which will be handed out on Sunday.
First they have to get past Capital, who have only won one of their three games, but will be looking to make the most of the chance they have been handed under the tournament’s new format.
‘‘It’s still 0-0 when the game starts, and they’re going to fight for every inch and they’re going to make it as hard on us as possible,’’ said Midlands coach Reiner Vellinga.
‘‘In these games, anything can happen, and we are prepared, and we will do well, but you never know - we played them in our buildup and we drew 0-0.’’
Midlands have spent the start of the week getting themselves into gear for the run of knockout matches they now face.
‘‘We had a couple of buildup games, but there was always some- body missing, so we’re still trying to find each other, and connect better and better, and that’s basically what we’ve been doing in these three games in the tournament, and it’s starting to pay off,’’ said Vellinga.
‘‘We’ll just keep building and focusing on the processes of getting our connections going.’’
Midlands haven’t let a goal in in their last 108 minutes of action, and Vellinga said maintaining their strong defensive record would be key.
‘‘We’re following our instincts a little bit better now, and that makes us a little more solid in the back, and that’s definitely becoming one of our strengths.
‘‘I reckon if we can keep that one going, it will get us far in the tournament.’’
Midlands’ quarterfinal is at 3.15pm today.