U15 girls go for glory
WHS student Rebecca Baker (left) has been a prolific goal scorer for the Wanganui Under 15 girls team in the national championship tournament in Nelson.
The Wanganui Under 15 hockey girls team can just about taste the national championship after they won through to this afternoon's final against Canterbury B following a great week of games in Nelson.
Meanwhile, the Under 15 boys team had also hoped to continue their recent legacy of making the championship final, but were narrowly beaten yesterday morning by Southland's comeback in the semifinal in Napier.
The national championships are the second tier of under 15 competition, after the premiership.
Under coach Jan Dixon, the girls team had no problems in their semifinal, beating North Harbour B 6-2 yesterday afternoon.
Standout player Rebecca Baker scored a hat trick of goals, including back-to-back field goals in the fifth and eighth minutes.
It took her competition tally to seven goals from six games.
Georgia Matson also had a good game, as did the team's two imports Isabella Wassilieff (Manawatu) and Nicole Parata (Horowhenua-Kapiti), with Wassilieff increasing her tournament tally to five goals.
Wanganui started on Monday with a 5-0 win against Taranaki B and 2-2 draw with Hawkes Bay B.
Their only loss was 5-1 against their opponent today, Canterbury B.
"We were 1-1 with them at half time, most of their goals were scored from penalty corners, so if we can tidy that up we'll be ok" said coach Jan Dixon.
"If the girls come out and play like they did today [with North Harbour], I think we'll be right."
Sophie Redmayne (three goals) and Jane Abraham (four) will want a second big game in as many days.
Bouncing back from the pool loss, Wanganui hammered North Otago 9-0 on Wednesday, then won their Thursday quarterfinal with Wellington B 2-0.
Dixon said Canterbury B have shown them their best and they can turn it around in the final.
"Either way, I'm very proud of the way the girls have played and progressed.
"Rebecca [Baker], she had a really good tournament again this year."
Having been so close in recent seasons to winning the tournament under coach Andrew Spence, the Wanganui Under 15 boys just missed the championship final after two really tough playoff games.
Starting with a 2-1 win over North Harbour B on Monday, Wanganui then hammered Thames Valley 8-1 in a friendly match on Tuesday, before disposing of Wellington B 2-0 on Wednesday.
They went into Thursday's quarterfinal with Canterbury B, and after being down 2-0 following back-to-back goals in the 35th and 37th minutes, they clawed back to 2-2 and extra time.
Players dropped off periodically and when it was down to five-a-side, captain Kian Belk slammed home his second goal of the game to win it 3-2.
But the pace of a long week would have been taking its toll, and while the team was up 2-0 at halftime, Southland were able to replicate what Wanganui did the day before - tying the match 2-2 and then getting the winner in overtime.
So far, Belk has scored five goals in the tournament, while Patrick Madder has three.
Wanganui will go into the playoff for third and fourth with Auckland B this morning.
By Jared Smith
Wanganui Chronicle