Women’s EuroHockey Championship I Qualifier (Prague, Czechia)
Austria produced an incredible last minute show to win the women’s EuroHockey Championship qualifier, scoring twice within seconds of each other to beat Ukraine 3-2.
It saw them finally make full use of their attacking verve, swinging an intense final their way after they spent long periods putting their rivals under pressure.
“Yesterday the win was incredible and so important for us,” said winning goalscorer Daria Buchta when reflecting on the win.
“We worked for that moment for so many years and we’re so happy that we achieved our goal and play in London next year.
“Today, we played our game. We went into the game mentally very strong and always believed in ourselves and in every one of the team and we’re just so happy that we have the gold medal.
“At half-time and the quarter break, we said we have to believe in us and our game and we will win this game. So I think the belief in ourselves was the most important thing today.
Ukraine had lead for the vast majority of the tie, going into the lead in the fourth minute through Veronika Korobkina.
Johanna Buchleitner levelled from a corner switch after some sustained pressure only for Ukraine to retake the lead from a rare breakaway when Karyna Leonova smashed in a spectacular shot.
And so 2-1 was how it remained as Ukraine clung tight to their narrow lead in the face of waves of Austrian attacks. They had the ball in the goal twice only for their efforts to be disallowed and they ran up 12 more penalty corners.
From the last of them, Johanna Czech eventually found the perfect line through the defensive runners to sweep the ball into the backboard for 2-2.
By this time, Ukraine had two players in the sin-bin and so the Red Foxes kept pushing forward and got an instant winning goal.
Fiona Felber tore down the right baseline and found Daria Buchta waiting at the back post to scramble the ball over the line.
Earlier, Poland recovered from their semi-final defeat with a 1-0 bronze medal win over Czechia who fell by the same scoreline for the second day running.
The only goal came in the 15th minute from Magdalena Pabiniak, twisting and turning to finish off a chance from close range after Amelia Katerla and Sandra Tatarchuk’s approach work down the left.
From there, they had largely the best of the clear chances with goalkeeper Anna Linková required to scoop one off the line from Viktoria Zimmerman in Q3.
She also made a super save from Hanna Wochna and then also kept out Viktoria Zimmerman from another gilt-edged chance.
For the Czechs, they struggled to get enough forward momentum with Anna Gabara cleaning up a couple of half-chances in the last moments.
Switzerland held off a concerted Lithuania charge to win the fifth place playoff 3-2.
The Swiss looked in control early in the second half when Tamara Trösch’s goal was added to by two brilliant Sofie Stomps strikes for a 3-0 lead.
But the battling work of Dovilė Juraitė and another top class drag-flick from Denise Soto cut the lead back to one with plenty of time remaining. Switzerland settled, though, and held on for their second win of the weekend.
Aleyna Satilmiş’s first two international goals saw Türkiye finish on a high with a 2-0 win over Croatia, scoring both in the last 16 minutes of the contest.
Her side made most of the running and, after a number of spurned chances, she swept in first time from Sila Erkoç’s cross. She then got a tip to Ece Șahiner’s shot late in the game to ensure a first win for a side featuring several debutantes this week.
Player of the tournament: Karyna Leonova (Ukraine)
Top goalscorer: Sofie Stomps (Switzerland)
Best goalkeeper: Luka Žiaubrytė (Lithuania)
Final rankings
- Austria
- Ukraine
- Poland
- Czechia
- Switzerland
- Lithuania
- Türkiye
- Croatia
