A bunch of Waitaki Girls’ High School hockey players created history at the Jenny McDonald Cup in Christchurch last week.
The school won the tournament, one of the fourth-tier events in the Hockey NZ programme, and got its name engraved on the cup for the first time.
Waitaki saved some of its best hockey – especially on defence – for last.
It had lost its final pool game, 2-1 to Cromwell College, and qualified for the semifinals as the second-placed team in pool B.
Auckland school Kingsway College was an unknown quantity in the semifinal, but Waitaki dominated the game from the first whistle and sailed to a 4-0 win.
That created a mouth-watering rematch with Cromwell and a chance for revenge in the final.
Cromwell thought it had scored the opening goal from a penalty corner, but it was disallowed due to danger in the circle before scoring, and it was 0-0 at halftime.
About 10 minutes into the second half, Connie Searle gave Waitaki the lead with a goal from a penalty corner, and with five minutes to go, Anna Scott scored to seal a 2-0 win.
Waitaki, coached by Yvonne Boswell, had pool wins over Middleton Grange (2-1), St Kevin’s College (5-1), Riccarton High School (4-3) and South Canterbury Rural (7-0).
Mikayla Scarlet (nine goals) and Jordon Cunningham (eight) led the team’s scoring, while Searle finished with five goals and Scott three.
St Kevin’s finished ninth at the tournament.
* Waitaki Boys’ High School finished fourth at the Coaches Cup tournament in Oamaru.
Waitaki Boys’ was pipped 1-0 by Waiuku College in the semifinals.
A thrilling third-fourth playoff against Papanui finished 1-1 after normal time. The game was reduced to nine-a-side then seven-a-side, and eventually had to be decided on penalty strokes, Papanui winning 3-2.
