A fantastic weekend of European club hockey came to an end when the men’s EuroHockey League Finals and the women’s EuroHockey Club Championships produced the most dramatic of finales. First SCHC delighted the home crowd as they beat Hertogenbosch on penalty shoot-out in the women’s final. Then Oranje Zwart overcame UHC Hamburg as the men’s match also went to shoot-out after a pulsating 70 minutes of play.
In the men’s competition, UHC Hamburg of Germany and Oranje Zwart of the Netherlands were drawn 1-1 at full time and so the match went into the 11th shoot-out of the competition. The ensuing shoot-out lasted an incredible 30 minutes as both goalkeepers, Nicolas Jacobi of Hamburg and Vincent Vanasch of Oranje Zwart, pulled off save after save. In the end, it was Oranje Zwart who prevailed and Bob de Voogd made it 6-5 as he shot home the winner.
During the match, de Voogd had scored first after Mink van der Weerden found him with a searching pass. The score was levelled in the second half when Niklas Brun latched onto a pass from Oliver Korn.
In the women’s final it was an all-Dutch affair between the host side SCHC and Hertogenbosch. It was German international Maike Stockel who scored the winning goal to make it 3-2. This is SCHC’s first European title.
During the match, SCHC set out at a high tempo and were 2-0 up by the end of the first quarter through two Caia van Massakker penalty corners. Den Bosch fought back, with Maartke Krekelaar finding the goal through a penalty corner, but it wasn’t until four minutes from the end that SCHC’s lead was pinned back - with the tournament’s top scorer Maartje Paumen adding to the scoreline.
The shoot-out was close, eventually going to sudden death, but Stockel held her nerve to put away her second goal of the shoot-out.
