Der Club an der Alster produced the biggest win of the day to delight their home crowd as the Allianz EuroHockey Club Trophy I, Women 2024 kicked off this year in Hamburg.
They dominated from the start and led 6-0 after the first quarter against Italian newcomers Butterfly Roma. In the second quarter, Alster slowed down a bit but increased the halftime score to 8-0.
After the big break, Butterfly Roma started strong and captain Agnese Grossi scored their first goal for the Italians in the tournament.
But Viki Huse’s pair of penalty strokes and an Anne Schröder effort meant the hosts ended with a 12-1 win. The final scorers list read: Kathi Haid (2), Emily Wolbers (2), Hanna Granitzki (2), Hannah Gablac, Viki Huse (2), Anne Schröder and Carlotta Sippel.
Earlier in Pool B, Surbiton HC got off to a strong start with a 2-1 win over Watsonians. In a thrilling opening, Sophie Hamilton scored for the English side in the second minute from a beautiful counter-attack. Shortly after, Watsonians equalised with a goal from Sarah Jamieson.
The game calmed down before Surbiton HC struck again in the second quarter and went into halftime leading 2-1 via Giselle Ansley’s corner.
The game continued to be lively in the second half, but no goals were scored. Accordingly, the English players from Surbiton won the first group match.
In Pool A, MSC Sumchanka made a strong start with an impressive 4-1 victory against SK Slavia Prague. The Ukrainian players took an early lead with a 4-1 scoreline in the first half and confidently defended their lead until the end. Goal scorers included Marharyta Mykhailiuk, Valeriia Rudychenko, Veronika Movchan and Kateryna Shokalenko.
The defending champions, KHC Dragons, also made a strong start to the tournament, taking an early 2-0 lead against Rotweiss Wettingen.
The goalscorers included Valerie Magis with a penalty stroke and Stephanie De Groof with a short corner. They quickly increased their lead to 3-0 and Wettingen found themselves chasing a big deficit at the start of the second half.
The start of the second half was a bit slow. Just before the end of the third quarter, Anna Gil, who had just come off the penalty bench, scored a crucial goal for Dragons.
However, this did not unsettle Wettingen, as they managed to score their first goal of the tournament with a beautiful deflection during a penalty corner, courtesy of Ria Müller.
It leaves Dragons and Sumchanka level at the top of the pool after day one.
** To follow all the scores and fixtures from the women’s EuroHockey Club Trophy I, click here
