Women’s EuroHockey U21 Championship II-A (Salon-de-Provence, France) – day 3 round-up
Italy grabbed the draw they need to reach Saturday’s final of the women’s EuroHockey U21 Championship II-A as they drew 3-3 against Ukraine on Friday morning.
All the goals came in the opening 21 minutes of a cracking contest. Italian captain Francisca Eschoyez opened the scoring from a stroke with less than a minute gone but Ukraine fought back and were 3-2 ahead by the end of the first quarter.
First, Veronika Korobkina levelled; Laura Cirilli put Italy back in front but Anhelina Losytska equalised once more and Sofiia Basanets put her side in front.
Things calmed somewhat after that as Elena Bucelli got Italy back on terms in the 21st minute and that proved the vital goal in the final outcome.
Both sides had corner chances going down the final stretch but the Italians held on for the points which assured them of second spot in the group.
They will meet France in that gold medal game with Euro promotion and a Junior World Cup spot on the line. The hosts defeated Lithuania 8-0 to make it three wins from three; Fanny Raby, Mathilde Duffrene, Hortense Guillon and Léopoldine Coppin all scored twice.
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