MSC Sumchanka produced a performance of a lifetime to become the first Ukrainian club to win a top level EuroHockey Club competition of any description.
Having eliminated German champions Mannheimer HC on Saturday evening, they came back from 2-0 down in the last quarter of the final against Dutch side SCHC to win gold via a shoot-out in Šiauliai, Lithuania.
** Pictures: Frank Uijlenbroek/World Sport Pics
Both sides had their chances in a scoreless first quarter before Anna de Geus broke the deadlock in the 12th minute when she turned in the ball at the back post from a Julie Smorenburg and Maud van den Heuvel’s excellent build-up play.
Van den Heuvel then used her favoured spin move to whip in the second goal from mid-circle to make it 2-0 to the Dutch side.
They went close in Q3 to grabbing a third, Elzemiek Zandee’s rising shot kissing the outside of the post on the way to safety.
Sumchanka hung tough through that phase and then ramped up the intensity in the final quarter. Kateryna Popova’s brilliant step forward created their first goal with seven minutes left, feeding the ball to Karyna Leonova who picked it up with her back to goal to spin and score.
And they got an inspired equaliser soon after, switching from right board to the left, back into Leonova whose first time pass found Popova on the baseline to fire in and make it 2-2.
Back came SCHC with a couple of corners, one of which was brilliantly saved off the line by Valeriia Zaitseva. It finished in frantic style with both sides having final minute openings but it went to a shoot-out.
There, Sumchanka produced the perfect set with Anastasiia Shyshyna and Leonova scoring both while Yuliia Dubovychenko saved brilliantly from Zandee to spark the celebrations.
The bronze match also provided a unique piece of history as Sanse Complutense’s shoot-out win over Mannheimer HC means that a German club did not win a medal for the first time in this competition.
Alejandra de la Llama’s cracking counter-attack goal put Complu one up and they were 2-0 ahead when Nerea Melero guided in a Cristina Condes pass.
Verena Neumann got Mannheim back in the game and a minute before half-time, Carolin Seidel levelled at 2-2 from a corner.
Seidel then put them in front for the first time with four minutes left with a back post tip-in and they held that advantage until 54 seconds from the end when Sara Carmona found the top corner from a corner.
The shoot-out was similarly epic, Carmona rescuing her in the last round of regulation efforts to make it 1-1 and then scored again as it progressed to three rounds of sudden death.
Eventually, Sofia Alcaide scored for 3-2 and Lidia Paniagua saved for a famous medal for Complu – their first ever Euro Indoor Club Cup bronze.
In the Pool C relegation battle, Waterloo Ducks confirmed Belgium’s status in the top level when they won a 5-4 thriller against SK Slavia Prague.
It left Slavia on the brink, needing a huge favour from hosts Šiauliai Ginstrektė-Akademija who had yet to win a match this weekend.
But they saved their best performance until last as they snatched a 4-2 win over Ege Yildizlari, a result which saw Türkiye drop to the second tier and Czechia stay in the top tier.
Women’s EuroHockey Indoor Club Cup – final standings
- MSC Sumchanka (Ukraine)
- SCHC (Netherlands)
- Sanse Complutense (Spain)
- Mannheimer HC (Germany)
- Waterloo Ducks (Belgium)
- SK Slavia Prague (Czechia)
- Ege Zildizlari (Türkiye)
- Šiauliai Ginstrektė-Akademija (Lithuania)
Top scorer: Karyna Leonova (MSC Sumchanka) – 10 goals
Best goalkeeper: Lidia Paniagua (Sanse Complutense)
Best player: Sonja Zimmerman (Mannheimer HC)
| Time | Teams | Title | Scoreline | Status | Pitch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 09:40 | WATDUCKS – SLAVIAPRAGUE | Pool C | 5 – 4 | Official | Pitch 1 |
| 11:00 | EGE YILDIZLARI – GINSTREKTEAKAD | Pool C | 2 – 4 | Official | Pitch 1 |
| 12:30 | MANNHEIMER – COMPLUTENSE | 3rd/4th Place | 3 – 3 (2 – 3 SO) | Official | Pitch 1 |
| 14:00 | SUMCHANKA – SCHC | Final | 2 – 2 (2 – 0 SO) | Official | Pitch 1 |
