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All the news for Monday 5 October 2015

Men: In a great match Peru and Uruguay ended in a 3-3 tie

Venezuela won 20-0 over Ecuador and leads Pool B of the Pan American Challenge so far

Patrick Espejo

Uruguay was able to recover on the last quarter of the match and achieved a valuable 3-3 draw against Peru during the opening of Pool B at the Pan American Challenge, held in Chiclayo, Peru and organized by PAHF.

Uruguay and Peru battled an intense match, where Peru surprised with a balanced game in all lines, and with a well executed penalty corner by Rodrigo Diaz in the 5th minute, host Peru took the lead. Diego Laborde scored off a penalty stroke in the 30th minute thus the match remained Uruguay 1 Peru 1, going into the halftime break.

Peru was encouraged by a large crowd, who assisted early to the stands in Colegio San José. Motivated, Miguel Rivera scored in the 39th minute and later Rodrigo Diaz in the 51st minute scored again. The last quarter was dominated by Uruguay with high speed and more experienced players. Juan Manuel Canessa and Alexis López were both able to score in the 52nd and 53rd respectively.

"We're rather pleased with the result because we played better than them and we were winning. We had to face one of the favorites and played a good match. That means we’ve grown," said Fabrizio Corno, captain of the Peruvian team.

Patrick Draper, captain of the “Charrúas” (Uruguayans), highlighted the work of his team and the fact that they never gave up. "We came here to win, and that’s our goal. Peru played well, and took advantage of our mistakes, but we were able to recover at the right moment.”

VENEZUELA APPROVED AND SCORED

Later, Venezuela played at will and has the highest score of the Pan American Challenge so far, after a 20-0 victory against Ecuador. The “Llaneros” (Venezuelans) dominated the match and top Pool B of the Men’s competition. Christian Vargas became the main star of the match, and of the tournament, scoring 8 times during the match. The rest of the scorers were Adan Iaya with 3 goals, Wilber Bracamonte, Simón Rojas, Andy Adrián with two goals each, and Rendy Ochoa, Raudin Simanca y Javier Ramos with one goal each.

“It’s important to start the competition winning and with a high score, which will help us qualify for next phase”, explained Venezuelan captain, Wilber Bracamonte. Wilson Torres, his Ecuadorian counterpart, explained that his team is still building up, and despite the result, nothing will discourage them to carry on growing and developing in hockey.

THE TOURNAMENT WILL CARRY ON TOMORROW

Tomorrow, the tournament will carry on at Colegio San José, in Chiclayo. AT 9 AM Panama and Guyana will meet, pursuing their first victory while Brazil will seek their next victory against Puerto Rico at 11 AM.

Pan American Hockey Federation media release

Women: Brazil and Peru in a tie and both top the tournament

With Tatiana Noronha Machado’s and Candela Devoto’s goal, both South American teams share the first place of the Pan American Challenge.

Patrick Espejo

Barbados made their debut with a comprehensive 10-0 victory over Panama.

Candela Devoto scored with a backhand shot by the end of the third quarter. This goal enabled Peru to end in a 1-1 tie, keeping both teams at the top of the women’s competition in the Pan American Challenge tournament, held in Chiclayo, Peru, 765 km north of Lima, since last Saturday until October 11th.

Devoto’s goal fired up the public enthusiasm, which assisted to Colegio San José. Brazil led the match in the 13th minute with Tatiana Noronha Machado’s goal after executing a penalty corner.

After that, the Peruvians were forced to attack, but without neglecting their defense. The result was an open match, with a number of shots in goal, enabling Peru’s Ana Palomino and Brazil’s Andrea Gomes to show off.

“It was a good goal, despite the fact I was standing at the wrong angle for the rebound. It was a fair result, both teams had good opportunities and worked well,” said Devoto at the end of the match.

Brasil and Peru drew, and both earned 4 points in the tournament, sharing the first place, except that Brazil is a step ahead as they have a higher score in the first day of the competition.

BARBADOS’S DEBUTE WITH GOALS

Barbados’s team made their debut with a good start in the Pan American Challenge defeating Panama 10-0, in their first match of the competition in Chiclayo. They did not have to face any difficulties along the four quarters of the match, and were able to baste different strategies, that ended in three goals by Tammissha Small, two by Ayanna Wilson and Patrina Brathwaite, the rest by Keisha Jordan, D’jamila Edwards and Tricia-Ann Greaves.

“We’re very happy. This debut is so good; we are encouraged by the result. We know that the rest of the matches will be hard, but it’s such a pleasure to play at this level in tournaments,” said the captain of the winning team Camile Pounder.

Later, Celina Portugal, defense player of the Panamanian team, said that the team is still under the process of building up, “But these tournaments, help us a lot. We would like to have an artificial pitch in Panama like in other countries or like this one in Peru soon, to carry on developing in hockey.”

A SINGLE MATCH TOMORROW

There is only one match scheduled for tomorrow (Monday) in the women’s competition, played in the round-robin. Puerto Rico, who fell 0-3 against Peru in their debut, will meet

Barbados; the latest will seek their second victory. The match will start at 1 PM (18:00 GMT).

The Pan American Challenge is held in Chiclayo, Peru, 765 km north of Lima, until Sunday October 11th, when the final match will take place. Both teams in the first two places of the podium of this tournament will earn the right to compete in the Pan American Cup.

Pan American Hockey Federation media release

Oceania Cup teams named

Josh Beltz to debut for Kookas; young Hockeyroos get Oceania chance


Josh Beltz will make his debut for the Kookaburras.

Hockey Australia has announced the Hockeyroos and Kookaburras squads for this month’s Oceania Cup continental championships in New Zealand.

The two squads were selected following the conclusion of the Australian Hockey League (AHL) events in Sydney and Darwin on Friday.

Hockeyroos Head Coach Adam Commens and selectors have named a squad brimming with technical ability, including the three young athletes that made their senior international debuts against Korea in Perth last month.



Queenslanders Madison Fitzpatrick (right of picture) and Stephanie Kershaw (centre of picture), and Victorian Laura Barden (left of picture) all debuted in the September series and featured in Friday’s women’s AHL grand final between Queensland Scorchers and Victorian Vipers.  

The Kookaburras will hand a senior international debut to 20 year-old Tasmanian Josh Beltz (pictured above) and welcome back Glenn Turner [pectoral], Tom Craig [hip] and Joel Carroll [hamstring] from injury.

Captain Mark Knowles missed the 2013 tournament through injury, acting instead as assistant coach to Graham Reid that year. Knowles will lead the Kookaburras on the field in Stratford and is joined in the squad by experienced teammates Jamie Dwyer, Eddie Ockenden, Fergus Kavanagh and Chris Ciriello.

In all, 11 members of the Kookaburras’ World Cup winning squad will make the trip.

New South Wales forward Blake Govers is one of five players under the age of 22 included. The 19 year-old was top goal scorer at the AHL with ten goals and won the Best Young Player and Top Scorer awards at the World League Semi-Final tournament in Antwerp in July.

Goalkeeper Andrew Charter and defender Joel Carroll are in line to make their 100th appearances for the Kookaburras. Both enter the competition on 98 games.

Senior Assistant Coach Paul Gaudoin will lead the Kookaburras at the Oceania Cup. He said the mix of experienced senior athletes with a youthful front line is exciting for the future of Australian hockey.

“This is a strong squad. I like the youth in our forward line – the likes of Blake Govers, Flynn Ogilvie and Tom Craig. We’re giving them an opportunity to step up and push for selection for a major championships. If we don’t give them these opportunities now it’s hard to know how they’ll cope with something like the Olympic Games,” he said.

“It’s no different to what we would normally do outside of a World Cup or Olympic Games. We’re still developing as a group and building for sustained success.

“Josh Beltz is someone we identified last year after he had a tremendous AHL and performed well in our national junior program. We’ve been really impressed with his progression, he’s certainly a long term prospect who warrants the opportunity to play for inclusion in our Olympic training squad next year.”

The Kookaburras will open their Oceania Cup campaign against Samoa before taking on New Zealand’s Black Sticks and Fiji. All pool matches will be live streamed by Hockey New Zealand.

The Hockeyroos squad comprises 14 of those that earned Australia’s women Olympic qualification with a third place finish at the World League Semi-Final tournament in Antwerp. The youthful group includes seven players under the age of 22.

One of the more experienced members of the group, defender Jodie Kenny is in line to make her 150th appearance in the final game of the Hockeyroos’ tournament.

“We feel this is our strongest team at the moment on form. Those players we’ve selected have performed well at the AHL and in the Korean series and national camp previously,” said Adam Commens, Hockeyroos coach.

“The Oceania Cup is a really important tournament for us. It’s a continuation of our preparation for next year’s Olympic Games and there are vital world ranking points at stake.

“We will field a young midfield with Brooke Peris, Jane Claxton and Mariah Williams all naturally quick athletes with the pace to combat New Zealand’s speed.

“Madonna Blyth, Karri McMahon and Eddie Bone will play in more defensive midfield roles in what we see as a strong combination.”

The Hockeyroos will face New Zealand’s Black Sticks in their opening encounter before taking on Samoa and Fiji. All pool matches will be live streamed by Hockey New Zealand.

Hockeyroos Squad for Oceania Cup
21-25 October 2015
Laura Barden (Kew, VIC)
Madonna Blyth (Brisbane, QLD)
Edwina Bone (Evatt, ACT)
Jane Claxton (Adelaide, SA)
Kirstin Dwyer (Mackay, QLD)
Madison Fitzpatrick (Cabarita Beach, NSW)*
Anna Flanagan (Canberra, ACT)
Jodie Kenny (Wamuran, QLD)
Stephanie Kershaw (Townsville, QLD)
Rachael Lynch (Warrandyte, VIC)
Karri McMahon (Berri, SA)
Georgina Morgan (Armidale, NSW)
Ashleigh Nelson (Wagin, WA)
Brooke Peris (Darwin, NT)
Kathryn Slattery (South Stirling, WA)
Emily Smith (Crookwell, NSW)
Ashlee Wells (Moe, VIC)
Mariah Williams (Parkes, NSW)

*Madison Fitzpatrick is a scholarship holder at the Queensland Academy of Sport.

Hockeyroos’ Oceania Cup Fixtures
21 October: Hockeyroos v New Zealand (15:30 AEDT)
22 October: Hockeyroos v Samoa (11:30 AEDT)
24 October: Hockeyroos v Fiji (06:00 AEDT)
25 October: Medal Matches – Gold Medal (11:45 AEDT) / Bronze Medal (07:15 AEDT)

Kookaburras Squad for Oceania Cup
21-25 October 2015
Joshua Beltz (Hobart, TAS)
Joel Carroll (Darwin, NT)
Andrew Charter (Canberra, ACT)
Chris Ciriello (Melbourne, VIC)
Tom Craig (Lane Cove, NSW)
Matthew Dawson (Central Coast, NSW)
Tim Deavin (Launceston, TAS)
Jamie Dwyer (Rockhampton, QLD)
Matt Gohdes (Rockhampton, QLD)
Blake Govers (Wollongong, NSW)
Fergus Kavanagh (Geraldton, WA)
Mark Knowles (Rockhampton, QLD)
Tyler Lovell (Perth, WA)
Trent Mitton (Perth, WA)
Eddie Ockenden (Hobart, TAS)
Flynn Ogilvie (Wollongong, NSW)
Glenn Turner (Goulburn, NSW)
Aran Zalewski (Margaret River, WA)

Kookaburras’ Oceania Cup Fixtures
21 October: Kookaburras v Samoa (09:30 AEDT)
22 October: Kookaburras v New Zealand (17:30 AEDT)
24 October: Kookaburras v Fiji (08:00 AEDT)
25 October: Medal Matches – Gold Medal (14:00 AEDT) / Bronze Medal (09:30 AEDT)

Hockey Australia media release

Manolios steps down as HAZ president

BY FORTUNE MBELE



HOCKEY Association of Zimbabwe (HAZ) president Mark Manolios has stepped down citing business commitments, just a few weeks before the men and women’s teams leave for South Africa for the African Olympic qualifiers to be held from October 23 to November 1 at Randburg Stadium.

His deputy Humphrey Chigwedere takes over after he was elevated to the presidency by the general assembly in Bulawayo last weekend.
Manolios bounced back to hockey when he was voted president last year in September at an annual general meeting (AGM) at Gateway High School in Harare taking over from Gavin Stephens.

“The president resigned on September 20 citing business commitments,” Chigwedere confirmed on Sunday.

“The general assembly then appointed me as president during the AGM in Bulawayo last week. There were two options to, either call for an elective special general meeting or to just elevate the deputy since we are going to the African Hockey Federation elective congress in South Africa on October 31 and we need to have a substantive president there. I was elevated to the presidency,” Chigwedere said.

Manolios’ resignation came less than three weeks before the national hockey teams leave for South Africa on October 20.

Haz has set a budget of the $30 000 for the Africa Olympic qualifiers.

The teams for the qualifiers were selected during the HAZ Cup that was held at Khumalo Hockey Stadium in Bulawayo on September 26-27.

Teams
Women: Jordyn Clipstone (USA) -goalkeeper, Jaime Hasbroek (Sunrise)-goalkeeper, Sarah Evans, Jenna Palmer, Jessica Dollar, Aime Brooke (Chelsea Drifters), Stephanie Campbell (South Africa), Kelly Kaulback, Aimee Nativel (South Africa), Chantelle Zietsman, Jessica Hilton-Barber, Michelle Williams, Simone Karim, Mitchel Mullins (Bulawayo Athletic Club), Roxy Viviers (Sunrise), Audrey Mangwende (Hippo Valley), Iman Johnson (Harmony Rainbow), Kelly Diplock (Scorpions)

Reserves: Runyararo Chadzinya (Hippo Valley), Melissa Sibanda, Rashmi Bhagat (Bulawayo Athletic Club), Kelly Hinze (Scorpions)

Coach: Eddie Chiringah

Manageress: Collen Nativel

Men: Tinavo Mushavi, Pritchard Matambo, Cydreck Starch, Donald Mutupo, Tendayi Maredza Matthew Williams, Ranga Mungwiniri, Arnold Mpofu, (Hippo Valley) Tapiwa Mafi (Enthusiasts), Neil Davidson, Peter Trethowan, Michael Richards (Bulawayo Vikings), Rowland Rixon-Fuller (UK), Takudzwa Mangwendeza (RSA), Edwin Tholanah (Bulawayo Hockey Club), Warick Ullrich (RSA), Takudzwa Chipuma (Eradicators), Dominic Ashely (Falcon College)

Reserves: Esau Mufandaedza, Kanyiwe Tapfuma (Hippo Valley), Kudzanayi Tembo (Enthusiasts), Prosper Sithole (RSA), Sibo Mangena (Rams),Thamsy Moyo (Bulawayo Hockey Club)

Coaches: Collin Williams, Tongayi Mukwewa

Manager: Kalpesh Parshotam

News Day

Sleepless in Johor Baru

By Jugjet Singh


The national juniors wore masks while in Johor Baru to familiarise themselves with the Taman Daya artificial pitch.

THE Johor HA are keping thir fingers crossed, hoping the haze will not be around when the Fifth Edition of the Sultan of Johor Cup starts on Sunday.

This is the second time haze has caused sleepless nights for JHA officials, as they faced a similar situation when hosting the World League Semifinal in 2013.

But back then, the haze cleared in time and Malaysia went on to book a place in the 2014 World Cup.

SOJC will be held on Oct 11-18 at the Taman Daya Stadium and organising secretary Manjit Majid Abdullah said they will be liaising with the various agencies before making any decisions.

"We are aware of the haze issue and hope it will clear soon. The health of players, officials and fans is our utmost priority," said Manjit who is also the Malaysian Hockey Confederation vice president.

"We are closely monitoring the situation, as teams will start arriving from Tuesday and we are keeping our fingers crossed that wind and rain will help clear the air."

Manjit added that they are also looking at the possibility of playing matches late as it is normally clearer in the evenings.

"Rest assured we have the best interest of all involved before making a decision," he added.

There are concerns that the tournament may be postponed due to the worsening haze condition affecting the nation as four Malaysia Cup matches were called off on Saturday as the Air Pollution Index reached unhealthy levels.

A marathon, and the women's hockey final was also victim to haze on Saturday.

Six teams will compete in the SOJC with defending champions India leading the stellar cast which includes debutants Argentina, last years losing finalists Britain, Australia, Pakistan and Malaysia.

Jugjet's World of Field Hockey

Haze poser for Sultan of Johor hockey meet organisers

By S. Ramaguru

KUALA LUMPUR: The organisers of the Sultan of Johor Cup are looking at alternate plans as the haze in the country deteriorates.

The Johor Hockey Association (JHA) are worried but optimistic that the smog will clear in time before the tournament starts on Sunday.

Besides Malaysia, five foreign teams – Australia, India, Pakistan, Britain and Argentina – are competing in the eight-day Under-21 meet.

JHA secretary Manjit Majid Abdullah said the show is likely to go on as planned.

“We are naturally concerned about the haze as the players and officials are our priority. But there are  indications that the haze might clear up. We are keeping our fingers crossed that it will not get worse than it is now,” he said.

Manjit said they would be liaising with the various agencies and look at all the options before making a decision.

“These options include the possibility of playing some matches at night when the haze has cleared up a little.

“We could also look at the morning time frame for some games. The next few days are crucial as the situation will be a lot more clearer,” he added.

Britain and Pakistan are expected to arrive on Monday while India will check in the following day. Argentina are scheduled to arrive on Friday.

Australia arrived in Singapore on Sunday. They are training in the republic before moving on to Johor Baru. But indications are that they will move to Johor Baru sooner than expected due to the haze in Singapore.

Manjit said the teams have also asked the JHA to arrange friendly matches for them before the start of the tournament.

“We’re waiting to see the haze situation before scheduling the friendlies. The teams can decide if they want to go ahead with the matches once they arrive here,” he added.

The Malaysian team spent a week in Johor Baru last week, but have gone back to Kuala Lumpur for their final phase of training. They are expected to play matches with the senior team before going to Johor Baru on Friday. Coach A. Arulselvaraj will name the final 18-member squad on Friday after a friendly with Britain.

The JHA also had a similar problem with the haze when they staged the World Hockey League Semi-Finals in 2013. Luckily for them, the haze cleared before the start of the tournament and Malaysia went on to book a place in the 2014 World Cup Finals.

The Star of Malaysia

'Strong defence will win us Sultan of Johor Cup'

NEW DELHI: With the 5th Sultan of Johor Cup just around the corner, Vikramjit Singh is confident he and his fellow defenders will ensure that the Indian junior hockey team retains the title for the third time in a row.

The 20-year-old Vikramjit has been touted as the one of the brightest talents in the team. He has enormously contributed in building a strong defensive line along with his team-mates and aims to put in his best efforts in the tournament starting from October 11 in Malaysia.

"We are confident of putting up a great show ahead in the tournament. I am excited and look forward to the upcoming challenge. I am even looking at working on how best to strengthen our defence line in order to increase the contribution towards the team," Vikramjit said in a release on Sunday.

"Also, with a strong defence line, I am confident we will not allow the opponents to break our defence chain easily. The team is working hard on closing the gaps which will allow us to take ball possession and going into counter attack."

Other defenders in the squad are Varun Kumar, vice-captain Dipsan Tirkey, Anand Lakra, and India international Harmanpreet Singh, who is also a talented drag-flicker.

The Times of India

Torun fall to arch rivals Grunwald Poznan

KS Pomorzanin Torun completed their build-up to EHL Round 1 in Hamburg in low-key fashion as they fell 5-0 to WKS Grunwald Poznan on Sunday afternoon.

It broke up what was a steady start to the Polish league campaign, winning their first four games in decent fashion despite their squad undergoing a large number of changes over the summer.

From last year’s line-up that played in the KO16 in Bloemendaal, four players – Michal Nowakowski, Bartosz Zywiczka, Sebastian Sellner and Wojciech Zadka – have all moved abroad.

Coach Andrzej Makowski also decided to step down as coach after six seasons with the club, staying on in a role as training co-ordinator and support for new boss Piotr Zoltowski.

To replace them, three Ukrainian players have been contracted with Vitalii Kalinchuk, Artur Mazurkevych and Volodymyr Stretovych and they made their presence felt with four successive wins to start the campaign.

Kalinchuk has scored six goals in those games including winners against both 1954 Gniezno and AZS Poznan. But their form ran out against their great rivals Grunwald Poznan in round five.

Karol Majchrzak scored a third minute opening goal and it remained that way for 42 minutes before the vastly experienced Tomasz Dutkiewicz shot home from a set piece.

Further goals from Marcinkowski, Pawel Bratkowski and new arrival Alir Sheraz Ali closed out the result.

Torun will look to get straight back to form on Friday afternoon when they play against French side St Germain in Hamburg in a tough EHL group that also features Amsterdam.

They will hope that key striker Krystian Makowski will have shaken off an injury at that stage when they take the field.

Euro Hockey League media release

Seccull secures vital win for EG

East Grinstead scored a dramatic 4-3 win over previously unbeaten Reading to warm up for EHL Round 1 in Hamburg in the best possible fashion, ending a run of three league defeats in the English Premier Division.

Adam Seccull was the hero as he got the winner with a late penalty corner goal to secure the victory after Reading had fought back from 3-1 down to tie things up going into the closing phases.

Earlier on, EG had taken the lead via Wes Jackson’s low shot that beat Tommy Alexander’s defences. Australian Seccull made it 2-0 five minutes into the second half from a corner but Richard Mantell replied in kind with a corner of his own.

The Gladiators, though, restored the two-goal gap when Ross Stott won the ball off Jonty Clarke and found Jackson in space and his cross was diverted home by a stretching Andy Piper (pictured above).

Tom Carson pulled one back for Reading to jangle the nerves and 90 seconds later, Andy Watts applied the finishing touch to make it 3-3.

But Seccull stepped up in the final minute to claim all three points and lift East Grinstead off the base of the table after a rough start to the campaign, moving above Brooklands MU and Canterbury.

Elsewhere, an Alan Forsyth hat-trick saw Surbiton finish the weekend two points clear at the top of the Men’s Hockey League Premier Division after rivals Holcombe could only manage a draw against Beeston.

Surbiton were comfortable 6-2 winners against bottom of the table Canterbury on Saturday evening. Forsyth’s three goals means he is top-scorer, while their other goals coming from Stephen Kelly, Jonathan Gall and Michael Watt.

Holcombe could have regained top spot on Sunday but were held to a 1-1 draw at Beeston. Mark Gleghorne struck early for the hosts before James Stedman levelled just before the break.

Holcombe thought they’d finally found a way past in the final minute of the game, only for a goal to be ruled out.

Euro Hockey League media release

Surbiton go top of Men's Premier Division


Alan Forsyth of Surbiton, scorer of a hat-trick in a 6-2 win over Canterbury. Credit: www.hockeyimages.co.uk

AN Alan Forsyth hat-trick saw Surbiton finish the weekend two points clear at the top of the Men’s Hockey League Premier Division after rivals Holcombe could only manage a draw against Beeston.

Surbiton were comfortable 6-2 winners against bottom of the table Canterbury on Saturday evening. Forsyth’s three goals means he is top-scorer, while their other goals coming from Stephen Kelly, Jonathan Gall and Michael Watt.

Holcombe could’ve regained top spot on Sunday but were held to a 1-1 draw at Beeston. Mark Gleghorne struck early for the hosts before James Stedman levelled just before the break.

Holcombe thought they’d finally found a way past in the final minute of the game, only for a goal to be ruled out.

Reading remain third despite losing out to East Grinstead in a nine-goal thriller. Joe Naughalty had given East Grinstead a narrow 1-0 lead at the break but the game exploded into life after the restart.

The two sides traded goals but it was Adam Seccull who had the final say with his second goal of the game, scoring the winner with a minute to go.

David Cooper, Neil Hamilton and James Simpson were all on target in Hampstead and Westminster’s 3-1 win against Brooklands Manchester University and in the other game of the day, an Ali Brogdon double helped Wimbledon to a 4-2 win over Cannock.

Men’s Conference West

The University of Birmingham kept the pressure on Cardiff and Met at the top of the Conference West, as Josh Kelly scored a superb five goals in their 6-1 win over Isca.

But Cardiff still hold their lead at the top of the as Luke Hawker and Rhys Gowman both scored a double in their 4-2 victory over Fareham.

Guildford took their first win of the season in beating Chichester Priory Park 4-2, and Indian Gymkhana stay third after beating the University of Exeter 4-1. Team Bath Buccaneers also claimed three points, beating hosts Cheltenham 2-1.

Men’s Conference North

Loughborough Students came through a tough test away to the University of Durham to keep their lead in Conference North.

Luke Taylor scored twice for Loughborough and his second goal after 52 minutes proved to be the winner in a 4-3 victory.

Wakefield were another team to win 4-3, beating hosts Preston. Dan Berry slotted home from a penalty corner with seven minutes remaining to win the game for Wakefield.

Bowdon and Sheffield Hallam played out a 2-2 draw and Doncaster beat Lichfield 2-0. In the other game, Deeside Ramblers took a narrow 1-0 win against Olton and West Warwicks.

Men’s Conference East

A late Simeon Bird brace saw Southgate take a 5-4 over Bromley and Beckenham in the Conference East with the scores tied at 3-3 after an hour.

Richmond remain top of the table after a Charlie Ellison hat-trick resulted in a 3-1 win over bottom club Harleston Magpies.

Sevenoaks dropped two points in their quest to go top, drawing 3-3 with Teddington – a result that sees Teddington move away from the foot of the division.

A Euan Gilmour double gave Cambridge City the edge in a 3-2 win over Brighton and Hove and West Herts drew 2-2 with Oxted.

Men’s Hockey League (Saturday, October 3 2015):

Premier Division: Surbiton 6, Canterbury 2.

Men’s Hockey League (Sunday, October 4 2015):

Premier Division: Cannock 2, Wimbledon 4; Hampstead and Westminster 3, Brooklands Manchester University 1; Beeston 1, Holcombe 1; East Grinstead 4, Reading 3.

Conference West: Cheltenham 1, Team Bath Buccaneers 2; University of Exeter 1, Indian Gymkhana 4; University of Birmingham 6, Isca 1; Cardiff and Met 4, Fareham 2; Chichester Priory Park 2, Guildford 4.

Conference North: Olton and West Warwicks 0, Deeside Ramblers 1; Wakefield 4, Preston 3; Doncaster 2, Lichfield 0; University of Durham 3, Loughborough Students 4; Bowdon 2, Sheffield Hallam 2.

Conference East: Cambridge City 3, Brighton and Hove 2; Richmond 3, Harleston Magpies 1; Sevenoaks 3, Teddington 3; West Herts 2, Oxted 2; Southgate 5, Bromley and Beckenham 4.

England Hockey Board Media release

Women’s EY Hockey League – week two round-up

Stephen Findlater

Hermes, Ulster Elks and Railway Union all retained their 100% records in the women’s EY Hockey League with emphatic victories on Saturday, all making it two wins from two.
 
For the Elks, their victory was built on a blistering first five minutes in which Irish captain Megan Frazer and Limerick native Rebecca Barry both scored against a shell-shocked Cork Harlequins.
 
It laid the perfect base for a 3-1 victory at Farmer’s Cross for Ricky Lee’s side. Orlagh Cotter did pull one back for Harlequins when she finished off a smart pass from Julie Poland midway through the second quarter but the Elks reasserted their superiority when Frazer’s shot rebounded off the post to Laura McAlpine and she rocketed home the crucial third goal.
 
It adds to the Elks' opening day win over Pembroke by the same scoreline to make for a confident start to the campaign for the Irish Senior Cup champions.
 
Railway Union recorded their second successive win against Cork-based opposition and are yet to concede a goal in two games to date in the league. They beat UCC 4-0 with alumni Julia O’Halloran on the mark twice in the victory.
 
Hermes, meanwhile, scored an emphatic 5-1 win over Ulster league and cup champions Ards with Anna O’Flanagan boosting her goalscoring tally to five goals in two games.
 
She opened the scoring only for Chloe Brown – back in the Ards line-up having missed the first round – to equalise in a lively first phase.
 
Maiden first team goals for teenagers Susie Kelly and Amber Curran, though, built a 3-1 lead for Hermes before O’Flanagan and international team mate Nikki Evans added an extra flourish to the final score.
 
Pembroke produced comeback of the round when they struck twice in the last 12 minutes to beat Pegasus 2-1 having trailed to Hannah Grieve’s third quarter strike.
 
Sarah Clarke’s second goal in successive weeks levelled matters before Eanna Horan nabbed a dramatic winner with less than three minutes to go.
 
UCD, meanwhile, were comfortable 4-0 victors over Greenfields with Galway native Elaine Carey scoring twice against the side from her home town. She scored the first and third goals, sandwiching Millie O’Donnell’s powerful sweep shot. Katie Mullan completed the victory in the third quarter.
 
Women’s EY Hockey League: Cork Harlequins 1 (O Cotter) Ulster Elks 3 (M Frazer, R Barry, L McAlpine); Hermes 5 (A O’Flanagan 2, S Kelly, N Evans, E Curran) Ards 1 (C Brown); Pegasus 1 (H Grieve) Pembroke 2 (S Clarke, E Horan); UCD 4 (E Carey 2, M O’Donnell, K Mullan) Greenfields 0; UCC 0 Railway Union 4 (J O’Halloran 2, Z Delany, E Smyth)
 
Extended day two match reports
Cork Harlequins 1 (O Cotter) Ulster Elks 3 (M Frazer, R Barry, L McAlpine)
First quarter goals from Megan Frazer and Rebecca Barry laid the perfect base for the Ulster Elks to record their second win of the season as they raided Cork to beat Harlequins 3-1.
 
The Ulster Elks’ superb start saw them net within two minutes of the start as a quickly taken free from Frazer saw her drive into the circle and finish on her reverse.
 
Limerick native Barry doubled the Elks’ advantage in the fifth minute from the first penalty corner of the game, deflecting into the roof of the net for 2-0. It was a big blow for the hosts who were again without defensive lynch-pin Cliodhna Sargent.
 
Nonetheless, they bounced back in the second quarter and got their reward from Orlagh Cotter when Julie Poland broke up the right flank before squaring neatly. Cotter kept her composure to wrong foot the goalkeeper and score.
 
It put the game back in the balance but the Elks, under pressure, countered brilliantly to reassert their two-goal advantage. Frazer was again pivotal, intercepting a loose pass and running hard at the circle. Her shot rebounded off the post but only as far as Laura McAlpine who unleashed a rocket of a rebound shot that flew into the net.
 
They held on to that advantage in a scrappy closing quarter and, indeed, could have made it more comfortable but for some goal-line heroics from Quins.
 
Hermes 5 (A O’Flanagan 2, N Evans, S Kelly E Curran) Ards 1 (C Brown)
Hermes produced a devastating performance to get the better of Ulster champions Ards 5-1 at St Andrew’s with Anna O’Flanagan making it five goals in two games.
 
She broke the deadlock in the 11th minute after some good build-up work but Ards were quick to reply with Chloe Brown – who missed the opening game of the season – pouncing on an error in the Hermes defence to slip the ball past Emma Gray.
 
First senior goals from teenagers Susie Kelly and Ellen Curran, however, stretched Hermes’ lead out to 3-1 with the latter scoring from the move of the game. Chloe Watkins did well to win the ball on her own 23m line. She fed a lovely pass to Curran who drifted into the middle channel from the right and covered 40m before firing home a beautiful strike.
 
Four consecutive Hermes penalty corners went unconverted but they closed out the win in comfortable fashion as O’Flanagan snatched her second with a cracking strike in the 49th minute.
 
And Nikki Evans got her first goal since returning to the club off the back of an excellent team move, deflecting in from Watkins’ final pass.
 
Pegasus 1 (H Grieve) Pembroke 2 (S Clarke, E Horan)
Eanna Horan’s 57th minute corner goal saw Pembroke produce a stunning late show to beat Pegasus at Queen’s, coming back from a goal down with 12 minutes to go to record their first win of the campaign.
 
The tie was locked at 0-0 for a long time as a couple of early corners at each end were kept out, Sammy Jo Greer making some good stops between the Pegasus posts. Ruth Maguire went closest when she hit the post just before the half-time interval as neither side made many in-roads before the big break.
 
The metalwork once again came to Pembroke’s rescue when Suzanne Beaney hit the post while Stella Davis kept out another set piece but, in the 42nd minute, the Ulster side eventually hit the front.
 
It came form a set piece that found its way to Hannah Grieve and she fired home for a precious lead going into the final quarter. But the advantage was short-lived as Sarah Clarke found the net for the second week running with a powerful corner hit.
 
That upped the ante as both sides saw players sin-binned during a fractious closing phase and it was Pembroke who capitalised. With three minutes left, they won another corner and Horan was on hand to finish for a smash and grab victory.
 
UCC 0 Railway Union 4 (J O’Halloran 2, Z Delany, E Smyth)
Julia O’Halloran struck twice against her former club to see Railway Union continue their confident start to the EY Hockey League, making it two wins from two over Cork opposition and retaining their seasonal clean sheet.
 
The early phases swung from end to end with Emma Barbour defending well for UCC who went close a couple of times on the counter. Railway, though, looked the sharper in front of goal and they got their lead with a clever redirection from Emma Smyth to break the deadlock in the second quarter.
 
Railway went on to boss the second half and had a bigger wedge between the sides when O’Halloran kept her eye on the ball when an initial reverse-stick shot ricocheted a couple of different ways before falling her way.
 
She and Zara Delany added further goals in the closing quarter to run up an impressive 4-0 success to add to their opening day 2-0 win over Cork Harlequins.
 
UCD 4 (E Carey 2, M O’Donnell, K Mullan) Greenfields 0
Galway girl Elaine Carey proved the centre-piece in undoing the club from her home town, Greenfields, as UCD got their first win of the EY Hockey League campaign.
 
The tone was set inside the first 60 seconds when Emma Duncan burst forward to win a penalty corner. Carey broke the deadlock soon after with a rebound after a smart initial save from Greenfields goalkeeper Sinead Collins.
 
The advantage stretched out to 3-0 by the half-time hooter as Millie O’Donnell’s powerful sweep shot finding a way through a thicket of defenders while Carey grabbed her second of the game. She nipped in at the back post to nick the third goal.
 
Katie Mullan closed out the scoring with the fourth goal with a reverse-stick bullet after a good run from midfield. The closing quarter was played mainly between the 23s with UCD building up the passes and looking for gaps but unable to find their way through the Greenfields’ defence for whom Collins was superb throughout.

Irish Hockey Association media release

Hermes, Elks and Railway maintain perfect Hockey League start

Second-half onslaught puts Ards to the sword at Booterstown

Mary Hannigan


Anna O’Flanagan scored twice for Hermes against Ards in the Ey Hockey League at Booterstown on Saturday. Photograph: Cathal Noonan/Inpho.

Hermes, Ulster Elks and Railway Union made it two wins out of two in the EY Hockey League on Saturday, Elks and Railway picking up fine wins on their travels to Cork while Hermes saw off the challenge of Ards at home.

There was only a goal between the sides at Booterstown at half-time, Anna O’Flanagan and Nikki Evans scoring for Hermes and Scarlett Holdsworth for the visitors, but the Leinster side pulled away after the break, O’Flanagan and Evans doubling their tallies while Ellen Curran got her first goal for the club.

Two goals from Julia O’Halloran, meanwhile, sent Railway on their way to a comfortable 4-0 win away to UCC, while Irish captain Megan Frazer was among the scorers for Elks in their 3-1 defeat of Cork Harlequins.

A week after conceding twice in the final quarter to Ards in a 3-3 draw, Pegasus suffered the same fate against Pembroke Wanderers – only this time the late scores resulted in their defeat.
Penalty corner
Hannah Grieve converted a penalty corner in the third quarter to give the Belfast side the lead, but Sarah Clarke levelled before Eanna Horan sealed the points from another penalty corner with just three minutes to go.

UCD’s 4-0 win over Greenfields put them level on three points with Pembroke and UCC.

The Irish Times

4 Cavaliers score in field hockey win

The No. 4 Virginia field hockey team (9-2, 2-2 ACC) closed out its weekend homestand with a 4-1 victory over Richmond (5-6, 2-0 A-10) on Sunday at University Hall Turf Field.

“It feels really good to come up with a win, but it feels even better because the team played so well,” said Virginia coach Michele Madison. “We were firing on all cylinders today. It seemed like there was a wall on the goal in the first half. They were trying so hard to put it in. I told them to keep knocking at it, which they did. The defense did a great job today as well.”

Virginia outshot Richmond, 33-2, with Richmond’s goalkeeper Emily Braunewell tallying 18 saves. Sophomores Tara Vittese and Nadine de Koning and freshmen Izzy McDonough and Greta Ell each scored a goal and junior Lucy Hyams tallied an assist.

The Daily Progress

Terps field hockey coach Missy Meharg is grounded in the present as she nears 500th win

Childs Walker


Maryland coach Missy Meharg after beating Michigan State. (Daniel Kucin Jr. / BALTIMORE SUN)

Which Maryland coach is closing in on 500 wins? She's also the mother of two grown boys adopted from Siberia.

One of the few things Missy Meharg does not handle well is nostalgia.

Not even now, when she's about to become the fourth coach in the history of Division I field hockey to win 500 games.

The dean of Maryland coaches can only laugh at the blanks she draws as she tries to dredge up the high points from a 28-year career that includes seven national titles.

She remembers the day Katie O'Donnell, probably the greatest of her many great players, hoisted a national championship trophy on Maryland's home field. As a freshman, O'Donnell had stormed out of the locker room after the Terps were eliminated in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

"I remember that like nothing else," Meharg says, staring out at the gleaming green turf where it all happened. "That was very powerful."

But other specifics?

"I don't look back," Meharg says.

She's not trying to throw a wet towel on anyone's celebration of the remarkable program she has built. She's just explaining the way she thinks — always in the present, always striving to help her players find the best versions of themselves.

Meharg, 52, just might be the best coach you've never heard of. She's surrounded by more famous colleagues in the Maryland athletic department, but they can only fantasize about dominating their sport as she has hers. She's a font of wisdom for younger coaches, an avid student of generational changes in young people, a compassionate mother of two grown boys adopted from Siberia and a relentless winner who's not particularly interested in her team's record at any given moment.

But a master peddler of her own myth? Not so much.

She might casually ask Dina Rizzo, one of the program's greatest alumnae and now Meharg's assistant coach, whether she played with Megan Frazer, another former Terps All-American.

No, Missy, Rizzo will say with a fond roll of the eyes, I'm 15 years older than Megan.

"We're terrible," Rizzo says, "because I don't have a good memory, either. But she is a very present person. Every day is a new day."

Ask Meharg about this year's team, and the vagueness disappears. This fresh batch of 25 women is the puzzle that consumes her, and it truly is a puzzle. See, these Terps (9-3, 4-0 Big Ten Conference) started a familiar No. 3 in the rankings but then lost three straight games to Boston College, Duke and Albany. For a little perspective, Meharg has coached seven teams that didn't lose three games all season.

But by mid-September, her young forward line hadn't quite jelled. Her team wasn't converting scoring opportunities in its usual fashion. And she could sense the pressure building on her fourth-year seniors, who face the prospect of leaving campus without a national championship. That hasn't happened to one of her senior classes since 2004.

Meharg never would define a player's success in terms of national championships won or not won. But she lives in the real world and knows others define college athletics as a zero-sum game.

She's asked whether she enjoys this kind of season, in which the wins aren't easy and the answers aren't obvious.

"I haven't had many," she replies, laughing. "So I don't know."

That might be the closest she'll ever get to bragging on her legacy. Meharg says she hasn't spent any time thinking about her 500th win and hopes her players haven't, either.

"She doesn't love this kind of stuff," Rizzo says. "But for us, it's a big deal. It would be nice if she got more recognition. If she were doing this in basketball, she'd be all over the map."

Asked why she has been so successful, players repeatedly point to Meharg's gift for connecting with them as individuals.

"There never seems to be an agenda," says one of her former Olympians, Keli Smith Puzo. "She always just wanted to hear about me instead of trying to sell me some message about the program."

For example, Meharg supported Smith Puzo's decision to step back from training with the national team while at Maryland. If it didn't feel right to the player, that was enough for her.

In a strange twist, Smith Puzo's husband, Inako Puzo, will be the coach who tries to prevent Meharg from winning her 500th game Sunday, when his Miami (Ohio) team will host No. 8 Maryland.

"That's the only part I'm not looking forward to," Smith Puzo says. "But Missy has been so important to the game nationwide."

'Different characters'

There's a directness to Meharg that sometimes stuns the millennials on her current team. She believes they're so used to examining the world through layers of Twitter, Facebook and texting that they're unaccustomed to a person who describes exactly what she sees.

"I feel like this weird dragon with flames coming out of my head," she says. "They're all staring at me like: 'Did she really just say that?' "

The funny thing is, she's way more easygoing than she was as a young coach. When she took over for her mentor, Sue Tyler, in 1988, Meharg was also still an active player on the U.S. national team. She regularly practiced with her Maryland teams, and the results weren't pretty.

"I'd kill 'em," she says. "I would just be so feisty and so competitive. I was a forward that dug my stick into you first before I led to a ball. I was small, so I didn't care what I had to do. That was my mentality. I was very grit and 'grrh.' "

Far from alienating players, Meharg's combativeness added to her credibility, says Lisa Buente, who played on her first Maryland team.

"We looked at her and said: 'Wow, I want to be like that,' " Buente recalls.

She inherited her intensity honestly, from an Italian mother who taught French and Latin at the same Upland Country Day School where Meharg came of age in southeast Pennsylvania. In her youth, the family went back to Italy for three months every summer, splitting time between the northern city of Turin and the coastal town of Rapallo.

She always has maintained an international flavor in her Maryland program. One of her assistants, Joppe de Vries, is Dutch, and some of her best players have hailed from other countries. Meharg recalls fondly how Paula Infante, a former national player of the year from Chile, would bark at teammates in a stew of English and Spanish. Her boldness was perhaps unfamiliar to American teammates.

"But it didn't matter," Meharg says. "You knew it was authentic."

"She really loves to have different characters," says co-captain Sarah Sprink, a senior who came to Maryland from Neuss, Germany. "You learn so much. There's so much knowledge on the team from different leagues and different countries."

For Meharg, living overseas created a pent-up desire to return to American playing fields.

"When I came home after those three months, I was just a wild little woman," she says. "I played everything — field hockey, lacrosse, ice hockey and then figure skating, tennis. I did them all really well, and I loved them."

Neither of her parents were athletes, but they did not object to her zeal.

"I wish somebody had been a big-time athlete in a sense, because I didn't have anybody to push me," she says. "All sports were to be done at the highest level of intensity. If you played croquet, you tried to play the best game of croquet. But there was no high performance."

That wouldn't come until she played field hockey and lacrosse at Delaware. After spending two years studying for veterinary school, she realized she identified more closely with the people who planned to spend their lives in athletics.

She switched her major to exercise physiology and, after graduating in 1985, took a job as a graduate assistant to Tyler, who coached women's lacrosse and field hockey at Maryland.

It was a different time for women's sports. With fewer college-level competitors, many Terps played field hockey in the fall and lacrosse in the spring, just as Meharg had. No one would have dreamed that one day, elite field hockey recruits would commit to colleges in the ninth grade. Meharg's biggest worry was persuading players to run hard throughout practice.

Meharg won her first national title in 1993, and her program rolled along as a perennial contender.

But in 1998, the world turned upside down for this driven, accomplished woman when she noticed two young boys, peeking at her from the bushes as she took morning jogs around her Rockville neighborhood.

It turned out that 7-year-old Andre and 5-year-old Genya were orphans from Siberia, staying with Meharg's neighbors as they awaited adoption by an American family. The hard-driving coach hadn't given much thought to motherhood. But suddenly, she found herself a little jealous of the parents who would get to raise these boys.

Then their adoption fell through and, supported by her longtime partner, Meharg said she would step in. The boys had to return to Siberia for nine months, in which time Andre moved to an orphanage for older boys, where he was treated harshly.

Meharg recalls the grim atmosphere of faded industry that pervaded their hometown, the way everyone seemed to drink reality away with brimming tumblers of vodka and the orange drink Tang.

But once Meharg brought Andre and Genya home in June 1999, field hockey no longer consumed her every waking thought. She had to get home to cook dinner, and she figures that was no bad thing.

"The players used to say B.C. and A.C., and that meant After Children," Meharg says. "After I adopted Andre and Genya, less was way more for me."

Rizzo confirms this, saying Meharg went from a coach who would throw things and run her players all afternoon to a notably calmer presence.

Meharg and her family moved to Severna Park, and she learned to enjoy her relatively traffic-free commutes and her yoga sessions on the community beach.

She also won more, claiming six of her seven national titles between 1999 and 2011.

'Maryland mom'

Meharg speaks of her program and her sons with equal pride.

Andre now lives in Salt Lake City and works for the Union Pacific Railroad. He chose the West because he covets open space and, his mother notes with admiration, never has had much use for other people's rules.

Genya, meanwhile, is a senior at College Park. He works at the campus golf course and in the library and is prone to ask for his mother's credit card to pay for sushi. Meharg says he plans to continue studying ancient European history as a graduate student at Maryland, which is part of the reason she's now confident she'll never work anywhere else.

She can imagine working in a different capacity, using her knowledge of the broader campus, sharpened through years on the university senate and as a leader of the athletic department's coaches' council. She wishes she had more time now to serve as a resource for colleagues. Women's basketball coach Brenda Frese has sought her counsel over the years. At the same time, Meharg built friendships with former men's basketball coach Gary Williams and current men's soccer coach Sasho Cirovski.

"When I think I'm not working hard enough, I just call Sasho, and then I know I'm not," she says. "That guy is always in a battle. Same as Gary Williams. I loved Gary Williams. People misread him, I felt. He was a very good friend. The guy was as committed and loyal to everyone on this campus as anybody."

For now, coaching is still the pursuit that kindles her fire.

She's fascinated by today's athlete. Recruiting is so heightened, she says, that players react to a college decision as emotionally as they might to the birth of a first child. She deals with this by immediately cutting through the mystery with her new players.

"I'm not a dictator," she says. "I don't want to be a dictator. I want the women to figure things out for themselves. That is getting harder and harder, but I'd like to think I can continue going that philosophical route. Let them learn how to make decisions in life by making decisions on the field."

She wants them to know that if they work hard in practice and support each other relentlessly, she'll be happy, no matter the record.

Sprink says Meharg, whom she describes as her "Maryland mom," has done a brilliant job with this year's team, convincing players that their early-season struggles will give them only thicker armor. The Terps have won seven straight since their three-game hiccup.

"The key thing I try to stay focused on is identifying with each player what their ceiling is, what really inspires them," Meharg says. "Not what motivates them, but what inspires them. What kind of character and being do they need to be in? What place do they need to be in to play free and fun? I think I'm good at that. This group, I'm still working with."

The Baltimore Sun

Win over Miami (Ohio) brings No. 8 Maryland field hockey to 10-3, Meharg to 500 wins

By Robbie Greenspan


Missy Meharg became the fourth Division I head coach to reach the milestone in a 6-2 win over Miami (Ohio) on Sunday afternoon. Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports

Missy Meharg's resumé was already stacked; seven national championships, 16 Final Fours, and nine NFHCA National Coach of the Year awards. Now the Terrapins' field hockey coach has another accomplishment to add: 500 career wins.

No. 8 Maryland (10-3) defeated Miami (Ohio) (7-6) Sunday, giving Meharg career win No. 500. She becomes just the fourth head coach in Division 1 history to reach the milestone.

Maryland started off the game strong, scoring less than nine minutes into the first half. Senior captain Sarah Sprink scored off a penalty corner for her eighth goal of the season.

Maryland freshman sensation Linnea Gonzales scored four minutes later, putting the Terrapins up 2-0. Gonzales' goal came off a shot from redshirt junior Emma Rissinger. The shot rebounded right to Gonzales, who finished it for her team-leading tenth goal of the season.

Welma Luus continued her incredible run, scoring two more goals in the game. The first came with three minutes left in the first half off a penalty corner, while the second put Maryland up 4-0 with 23 minutes left in the game. The goals increased Luus' total to nine goals on the season, and six in her last four games.

Sophomore Lein Holsboer got in on the action, too, scoring three minutes later to give the Terps a 5-0 lead.

Miami (Ohio) scored goals with 13 minutes and nine minutes left in the game to bring the deficit to three, but Maryland added one more before the final whistle blew. Junior Courtney Deena scored the Terrapins' final goal with 14 seconds to play, making the final score 6-2.

Maryland travels to Penn State (5-6) on Friday for the Terps' third-consecutive road game. The game will not be streamed, but live stats and updates will be available.

Testudo Times

East and Midland win U18 & U16 Girls Inter-District events


Photo Credit: Duncan Gray

A great experience of hockey took place at the Glasgow National Hockey Centre this weekend, with a successful staging of the U18 & U16 Girls Inter-District tournaments.

In the U18 Girls competition, East District were the outright winners after an excellent five wins from five matches, scoring 21 goals in the process and winning by a six point margin in the round-robin format.

The pivotal match of the competition was East's 2-1 win over runners-up Midland.

In the U16 Girls competition, Midland and West reached the final of the pool / crossover format after each District topped their respective pools.

It was Midland who narrowly claimed the winners' trophy courtesy of a 1-0 win over the West.

East finished third after a 4-0 win over South in the 3rd/4th place play-off.


Photo Credit: Duncan Gray

Download the U18 & U16 Girls Inter-District results and final standings

Scottish Hockey Union media release