St Paul's Girls' Hockey by St Paul's Collegiate School

A busy month for girls' hockey

St Paul's girls' 1st XI hockey team have had a packed month travelling all over the North Island to compete. Here are the latest game reports.

vs Taupo-nui-a-tia, Wednesday 31 July

The girls' 1st XI travelled to Rotorua to play against Taupo-nui-a-tia. 

Cold conditions saw the first quarter start off slow, however, once the girls warmed up, the second quarter brought in two goals, with a field goal to Sophie Chisholm and a penalty corner goal to Darcy Hunter. 

By half time the girls had all possession and needed to execute the remainder of the game. The fourth quarter brought another great field goal to Jess Scatchard, allowing the girls to claim the win 3-0 at full time. 

Player of the day: Jess Scatchard for tireless attack and work rate. 

vs St Peter's Cambridge, Monday 5 August

In a frustrating game, St Paul’s played some good hockey but were unable to convert this to points while also defending well to deny St Peter’s. The game ended in a nil all draw

Player of the day: Sophie Chisholm for good hustling throughout.

vs Mt Maunganui College, Wednesday 7 August

The girls' 1st XI hockey travelled to Tauranga to play Mt Maunganui College for their intercity game.

St Paul's made a strong start to the game with an early goal to Nikki Parrott followed by an excellently executed field goal to Jess Scatchard to take an early 2-0 lead in the first quarter. Mt Maunganui were next to score from a rebound off the St Paul’s goalie, but not to be outdone - Phoebe McColgan scored with an air shot on the rebound at the other end to again give St Paul’s a two goal advantage at half time up 3-1. 

The third quarter remained scoreless with Mt Maunganui scoring again early in the last quarter. St Paul’s could not find a reply but, were also strong on defence, denying Mount Maunganui any more. 

Final score 3-2 win to St Paul’s. 

Player of the day: Phoebe McColgan for what proved to be the winning goal.

vs Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Ruamata, Wednesday 14 August

The girls' 1st XI hockey team travelled to Rotorua to play Ruamata. 

The game began with Ruamata on the front foot scoring an early goal from their first penalty corner. St Paul’s girls then found their rhythm and provided better defence, as well as a number of attacking opportunities which were capitalised on in the second quarter when Ayla Hall scored two brilliant goals to take St Paul’s to a 2-1 half time lead. 

The third and most of the fourth quarter was an even battle between two determined teams with Ruamata gaining one more goal from a penalty corner with only three minutes on the clock. Unable to add to their score, the final whistle saw a 2-2 draw. 

Player of the day: Nikki Parrott for consistently working hard the entire game. 

vs Hillcrest High School, Wednesday 21 August

The girls' 1st XI hockey played a semi-final against Hillcrest High School. 

St Paul's were quick to be the dominant team on the turf, while not able to convert a number of opportunities, St Paul's defence also held strong, with a 0-0 draw at quarter time. The girls continued to work hard through the second quarter with their number one fan, Mr Lander, finally able to be at a game to cheer them on, alongside all the parents and other St Paul's supporters. The girls were finally rewarded with an excellent goal from a penalty corner to Ayla Hall just before half time to take a 1-0 lead. 

The second half was a more even contest, but St Paul's defence held strong against a number of Hillcrest penalty corner opportunities, preventing them from scoring. Going into the final quarter, 1-0 up, St Paul's extended their lead with a penalty corner deflection goal to Jess Scatchard and were able to stop Hillcrest from scoring, qualifying for the final against Ruamata with a 2-0 win. 

Congratulations to all of the girls with special mention to match hero and player of the day Cate Wilson for her tireless defence throughout the game.