Round 1 of the Premier Hockey League Commences
This weekend's matches in the opening round for the Premier Hockey League provided plenty of excitement, featuring four competitive games over two days. The Tridents Women and Central Falcons Women showcased their dominance, while the Mavericks Men and Alpiners Men showed their class in their respective wins. This action-packed weekend sets the stage for an exciting season ahead.
Up in Auckland for opening day on Saturday at Lloyd Elsmore Park the Mavericks Men edged the Tridents Men in a close penalty shootout after a 2-2 draw. The Tridents dominated the first quarter with Robbie Capizzi opened the scoring with a composed reverse sweep over the goalie who was down into an open net. The Mavericks Vance Harvey equalised just before half-time with a slick reverse shot from the top of the circle. The second half was close with both teams scoring again bringing the score to 2 apiece at full time. A penalty shootout lead the Mavericks to take the overall win.
Up next, the Tridents Women delivered a solid 6-0 win over the Mavericks Women. Paige Blake set the tone with an early goal in the first five minutes with a deflection from the top of the circle for the matches first penalty corner. The Tridents continued to capitalize their opportunities with a penalty stroke converted by Pippa Norman before half-time. Sophie Hildesley and Petrea Webster added late goals to seal a comprehensive win, adding two more points to the score each with successful shootout conversions – this being a new rule introduced to the New Zealand hockey scene whereby all field goals awarded (or from a goal resulting from a penalty stroke awarded in field play) are given a second opportunity directly after to take a one on one conversion shootout.
On Sunday the Premier Hockey League went down South to Dunedin. The Women were up first with the Central Falcons showcasing their strength with a solid 3-0 win over the Alpiners Women at Alexander McMillan Hockey Centre. Kelsey Smith opened the goal scoring with a counterattack and a calm collected conversion following this . Michaela Curtis added one more to the score ensuring a clean sheet for the Falcons.
Last up for opening weekend we saw The Alpiners Men verse the Falcons Men. The Alpiners demonstrated their dominance with a commanding 6-1 victory. James Nicolson, Sam Lane, and Nick Findlay each found the goal in the two middle quarters, with Finn Ward adding another after halftime. Despite a solid counterattack goal from Jonty Elmes, the Falcons ran out of time to make a comeback and the Alpiners had blown the match out with two successful conversions on top of four solid field goals.