AHTC Wien became the first side to confirm promotion for Austria from the women’s EuroHockey Indoor Club Challenge I in Vienna but who joins them remains to be seen.
Picture: Edith Führing
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In the morning session, KPH Rača and Iris Hockey Lambersart took the top two spots in Pool B with vital wins on Saturday.
For the Slovakian team, they led from the front with Karolína Vyskočová continuing her scoring form with two goals in the first six minutes on the way to a 7-2 win over Partille. She finished with four goals, giving her 13 goals in three games so far.
For Lambersart, they overcame an initial exchange of four goals in Q1 to pull away from Ukimerioni Kutaisi with three goals in the second quarter putting them in pole position for an 8-3 win.
Copenhagen put themselves in the frame for the top four when they shone in the second half to beat Swansea 4-1. The Welsh club missed a stroke in a scoreless first half and their Danish opponent took advantage of the let off in Q3 with Chiara Stichling, Matilde Christensen and Mathilde Mourier registered a 3-0 lead which they carried through the final quarter.
AHTC continued their serene progress through the competition with a big 13-1 win over FHC Akademik Plus Sofia, ending the group phase with three wins and 37 goals from their three games.
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In the Pool C relegation battle, Partille picked up their first win of the weekend when they landed a 6-3 success against Swansea, leaping them up to six points.
Ukimerioni Kutaisi, meanwhile, were 7-2 winners against Akademik to move onto 10 points. It means they are safe no matter what the outcome of the contest between them and Swansea in the morning – the Welsh side, though, still have an outside chance of avoiding the one relegation spot.
It leaves plenty of the attention in this group on the outcome of Akademik and Partille should the Welsh side defeat the Georgians.
In Pool D’s promotion battle, AHTC have already secured one of those spots courtesy of their narrow 2-1 win over Iris Hockey Lambersart thanks to an early Tessa von Velsen goal and then a Q3 goal from Maria-Luisa.
Lambersart will now know need to win against Copenhagen in their final game for promotion. The Danish club, however, know a draw also gives them a strong chance.
That is because they defeated KPH Rača 5-1 with an impressive showing. The Slovak side had led 1-0 in the first quarter via Lenka Horáčková but Copenhagen turned the tide in the second half with Matilde Christensen scoring twice.
Women’s EuroHockey Indoor Club Challenge I – Saturday results
| Teams | Title | Scoreline |
|---|---|---|
| AHTCWIEN – LAMBERSART | Pool D | 2 – 1 |
| COPENHAGEN – RAČA | Pool D | 5 – 1 |
| AKADEMIK – KUTAISI | Pool C | 2 – 7 |
| SWANSEA – PARTILLE | Pool C | 3 – 6 |
| AHTCWIEN – AKADEMIK | Pool A | 13 – 1 |
| COPENHAGEN – SWANSEA | Pool A | 4 – 1 |
| KUTAISI – LAMBERSART | Pool B | 3 – 8 |
| RAČA – PARTILLE | Pool B | 7 – 2 |
Sunday schedule
| Time | Teams | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 10:10 | KUTAISI – SWANSEA | Pool C |
| 11:30 | AKADEMIK – PARTILLE | Pool C |
| 13:00 | LAMBERSART – COPENHAGEN | Pool D |
| 14:20 | AHTCWIEN – RAČA | Pool D |
