W1 Pipped By Polo Club In Shootout
By Colin Pike
Surbiton Women were unlucky to miss out on a ranking match shootout win against Real Club de Polo, going down 3-2 after leading 2-0 in the shootout following a competitive 1-1 draw in normal time.
Surbiton had qualified for the ranking match after beating Slavia Prague 8-0 in the FINAL12, before a narrow 2-1 defeat to Düsseldorfer in the FINAL8.
Real Club de Polo had also lost 2-1, to Braxgata in the FINAL8 to leave both teams battling for coefficient points to determine how many teams each country can enter in the Euro Hockey League in 2026.
Early in the game, Surbiton's Holly Wilkinson narrowly missed being hit by the ball and midway through the first quarter, Alina Piccardo's shot went wide of the right post.
The first quarter was set to end goalless before a moment of magic saw Darcy Bourne's shot deflected past Real Club de Polo goalkeeper Mariana Scandura by Alice Wills in the fourteenth minute to give Surbiton the lead.
Defences were mainly on top with Ellie Mackenzie only able to send a cross across the face of goal with five minutes remaining before half time.
Surbiton were also unable to take advantage of the Spanish team being reduced to nine players as Piccardo and Patricia Alvarez had to sit together on the naughty step for the last two minutes of the second quarter.
In the third quarter, Erica Sanders was frustrated as her shot hit the sideboard after Martha Taylor's attack was stopped by Marta Armenteras. Surbiton goalkeeper, Amber Walton also made some important saves, including setting up a counter attack for Bourne towards the end of the third quarter.
Real Club de Polo had threatened with penalty corners, their first denied by a block on the line by Sophie Hamilton at the right post; Walton saving from Xantal Giné before Giné tried to play a 1-2 slip move from the re-award of the second penalty corner.
Their fourth resulted in the equaliser, Piccardo converting to leave all to play for with nine minutes to play.
Three minutes later, there was concern as Stefania Antoniazzi laid prone on the ground after a challenge by Mackenzie. Antoniazzi was helped off the pitch before play continued.
Both teams had chances to snatch a late win, Katie Curtis needed in defence to repel a Real Club de Polo attack and Scandura justifying her nomination as player of the match to deny Mackenzie after being rounded by the Surbiton forward, Scandura somehow recovering to deflect Mackenzie's shot with her stick to ensure the matchup would be decided by a shootout.
Surbiton went into the shootout historically having lost their previous three instances, but make an excellent start when Bourne found the backboard from the first attempt. Jemma Woods replaced Walton in the Surbiton goal and prevented Laura Bruguera from taking a shot within the eight second limit.
Izzy Petter was fouled by Scandura during her attempt, the resulting penalty stroke, slotted to the Spanish goalkeeper's left by Erica Sanders. to give Surbiton a 2-0 advantage. When Marta Segú's shot went wide of the left post, Surbiton seemed on course for victory.
Scandura kicked the ball away from Katie Curtis before Piccardo gave Real Club de Polo hope by halving the deficit to 2-1.
When it was turn for Sanders to make her own attempt, she was thwarted by a Scandura stick save, only for Woods to clear the ball when Giné tried to equalise.
Alice Wills ran out of time with the ball ultimately rebounding off the post, Patricia Alvarez succeeding where Giné had failed to level the shootout at 2-2 and institute sudden death.
Alvarez immediately made her second attempt after the team order reversed at the start of sudden death and found the backboard for the second time to put Real Club de Polo ahead for the first time. Bourne in trying to restore parity, ran out of time and Scandura celebrated their 3-2 victory along with the rest of the Real Club de Polo squad.
More information about the Women's Euro Hockey League can be found at the EuroHockey Altius website here.