Women’s EuroHockey U21 Championship (Valencia, Spain) – bronze medal match
Germany’s women signed off on their EuroHockey Championship in style with a 3-0 victory over Belgium to take home the bronze medal.
They bounced back in style from their tough semi-final defeat to the Netherlands with some goals of real quality underpinning their success.
Belgium had the best of the first quarter but could not take full use of their penalty corner chances while the Germans netted from their first major opening in the second quarter.
Lena Keller made a breathtaking run down the left wing, bouncing past a couple of challenges before working the ball across to Jessica Schwarz who clipped in a perfect backhand shot.
The second arrived in the 24th minute from a corner which was initially inject off course and the first shot was charged down. But the ball fell to the originally intended striker Franziska Pabsch and she spotted a gap at the left post which she found with a neat backhand shot.
Again, the young red panthers found more of the ball and territory in Q3 and Q4 but the finishing touches were not coming.
Germany, meanwhile, had the Midas touch with Annika Schönoff brilliantly dragging the ball out of trouble before lofting the ball over goalkeeper Sterre Jammaers.
It crowned their twin and a 16th medal for Germany at this level.
