In agonising circumstances the Victorian Vipers fell short in a penalty shootout against the Canberra Strikers in the bronze medal match, whilst the Victorian Vikings finished in fifth position after defeating South Australia in their classification game.
Bronze Medal Match
Canberra Strikers 4 (2) (E. Bone 34’, Gaughan 23’, 23’, Tice 45’) Victoria Vipers 4 (0) (Brazel 17’, 17’, Ratcliffe 57’ PP)
The Canberra Strikers have won a Bronze medal at the final AHL after they defeated the Victorian Vipers in penalty shootouts.
After trailing early the Strikers rallied behind impressive performances from captain Edwina Bone and Sophie Gaughan in front of a packed house.
The Victorians answered through a late PumpPlay goal to Madi Ratcliffe which sent the game to shootouts.
Naomi Evans had a chance to open the scoring in the 14th minute of the game. The Striker wrongfooted two opponents before running the ball baseline, her pass into the D was intercepted and Sarah Breen was able to get the Vipers out of trouble with the breakaway.
Lily Brazel broke the scoring drought, firing a shot past Strikers goalkeeper Rene Hunter in the 17th minute. Brazel showed off her skills, slipping the ball past Hunter’s pads for the conversion.
The Victorian lead didn’t last long, Canberra hit the scoreboard in the 23rd minute through Sophie Gaughan. Gaughan’s spectacular field goal found the corner of the net and her conversion was just as impressive.
Edwina Bone started off the second half on fire, drag flicking a penalty corner shot through congestion and over Lynch’s shoulder.
Leading 3-2 the Strikers continued to mount pressure on the Victorian defence, creating several penalty corners in quick succession.
As the third quarter came to a close, Canberra drew another penalty corner. This time Edwina Bone found Elena Tice with the pass and her strike was true, firing the shot out of Lynch’s reach.
The scoreboard didn’t change again until the Victorian PumpPlay, a penalty corner chance saw Madi Ratcliffe tie things up. Ratcliffe received the ball after a reset and delivered a powerful flick past Hunter for double points.
The Lakers could’ve sealed the match on the final hooter with their penalty corner opportunity. Edwina Bone mirrored her play from the third quarter, delivering a pass to Tice whose shot was deflected by Lynch.
Drawn at fulltime, the match went to penalty shootouts. Hunter denied the shot from Emily Hurtz to start the proceedings. Canberra’s Tina Taseska was worried out of her stroke, sending the ball wide of the goal.
After sending the game to overtime, Ratcliffe stood up but her shot was deflected by Hunter as well. Beckie Middleton was the first to finnd the goals, sliding her shot through Lynch’s legs.
Brazel was pressured out of her opportunity, Hunter forced the shot wide. Tice found the backboard with a powerful shot past Lynch’s pads and put the Strikers in a winning position;
Krissy Bates approach was beautifully defended by Hunter who secured the bronze medal for Canberra.
Classification Match
Victoria Vikings 8 (Webster 6', Scanlon 21', Ephraums 26', 26', Pollard 38', 38', Kleinschmidt 48', 48') SA Hotshots 1 (Larwood 14')
Reigning champions Victoria clinched fifth spot with a comprehensive win over SA, with Josh Pollard, Nathan Ephraums and Aaron Kleinschmidt hitting doubles.
James Webster opened the scoresheet in the sixth minute, but the Hotshots levelled it up through Luke Larwood before quarter time.
Andrew Scanlon restored Victoria's lead with a trademark drag flick, with Ephraums netting a field goal and conversion to open up a 4-1 lead by half-time.
Pollard dived in at the far post before converting to make it 6-1 in the 38th minute, with Kookaburras forward Kleinschmidt adding another pair in the 48th minute, emphatically firing in his conversion.
Match reports with thanks to Hockey Australia
Awards
The AHL awards were also handed following Sunday's finals, with Victoria's Lily Brazel and Canberra's Elena Tice winning the Women's Player of the Tournament, while Queensland's Jake Whetton claimed the Men's Player of the Tournament.
HA HP Awards
Kookaburras Highest Goal Scorer
Jeremy Hayward
Hockeyroos Highest Goal Scorer
Kathryn Slattery
Hockeyroos Player of the Year
Jane Claxton
Kookaburras Player of the Year
Mark Knowles
AHL Awards
Women’s Leading Goal Scorer
Jodie Kenny (Queensland), Rebecca Greiner (Queensland), Emily Hurtz (Victoria) – 9 goals
Men’s Leading Goal Scorer
Blake Govers (NSW) – 11 goals
Women’s Best Goalkeeper of the Tournament
Rachael Lynch (Victoria)
Men’s Best Goalkeeper of the Tournament
Andrew Charter (Canberra)
Women’s Player of the Tournament
Elena Tice (Canberra) & Lily Brazel (Victoria)
Men’s Player of the Tournament
Jake Whetton (Queensland)
Women’s Player of the Final
Kaitlin Nobbs (NSW)
Men’s Player of the Final
Corey Weyer (Queensland)
