Avonside Girls’ High School 1st XI hockey champs 2020 for SSL Div 2!

After a convincing win against Rangi Ruru 3rd X1 in the semi-finals last week, our team headed into the final for 1st and 2nd vs Christchurch Girls High School 3rd X1 as the underdogs with two previous defeats. 

In this match, the teams were evenly matched and CGHS took the lead early scoring in the first quarter. We continued to apply pressure throughout and the breakthrough came in the third quarter with a strong dribble from Caitlin Nicholas who passed to Anna Wildbore and then received it back to beat the goal keeper and score. 

Heading into the final quarter, the game was locked at 1-1 and then with 10 minutes to go, a great dribble from Alissa Tamaki found space to pass the ball to Ava Croton who beat the keeper to make the score 2-1. This increased the intensity and pressure resulting in CGHS taking their goalie off with eight minutes to go and adding an extra field player. With this extra pressure our defence held strong and defended several penalty corners in the final minutes to secure the win. 

This topped off a great season with a lot of improvements made throughout the whole team. A special mention must go to Brydie Washington who has led the team with exceptional leadership and been a wonderful captain and role model.  We will greatly miss her.