The reigning champions from the Netherlands defended their title at the ERGO Hockey Junior World Cup. The Dutch girls won the final against Argentina 4-2 in the shoot-out clinching the trophy for a record third time in women’s Junior World Cup history. The breathtaking final was tied 1-1 after regulation time and went into shoot-outs to decide the winner.

The final got underway in front of a packed crowd in Mönchengladbach’s Hockeypark. The match started slow but quickly escalated into a fast-pace game with chances either side. Argentina forced the first penalty corner midway through the first half but Julia Gomes Fantasia’s flick went wide of goal. The Leoncitas had slightly more ball possession, but failed to convert this advantage to goals.

The Netherlands forced their first penalty corner of the game in the 28^th minute. However, the Argentine goalkeeper Sofia Montserrat made a tremendous save against tournament top scorer Lieke van Wijk. Before, Montserrat had parried well against Samantha Saxton firing from close range. With three minutes remaining in the first half, the Dutch girls forced their second penalty corner which was brilliantly converted by drag flicking specialist van Wijk. Montserrat had no chance as the ball hit the top corner of the net. The reigning champions held a narrow 1-0 lead at halftime.

After the break, the Dutch goalkeeper Anne Veenendaal was called into action several times as Argentina looked to draw. The Leoncitas pushed hard to force the equaliser but Veenendaal made sure that nothing gets passed her. On the other side, Montserrat parried another penalty corner flick from van Wijk. The Leoncitas eventually levelled the score to 1-1 with a great goal in the dying minutes of the game. With four minutes remaining on the clock, Jimena Cedres deflected a penalty corner shot from Gomes Fantasia into the net.

As the score remained tied at 1-1, a penalty shoot-out was necessary to decide the winner. Six of eight shots went in. Marloes Keetels, Sarah Jaspers, Maria Verschoor and Laurien Leurink scored for the Dutch side, while the Leoncitas Maria Granatto and Jimena Cedres failed to convert. Florencia Habif and Julia Gomes Fantasia were the only ones scoring goals for Argentina. 

ROSTER

Saskia van Duivenboden, Sarah Jaspers, Marloes Keetels, Sian Keil, Lisanne de Lange, Laurien Leurink, Mila Muyselaar, Elsie Nix, Laura Nunnink, Floor Ouwerling, Sam Saxton, Lisa Scheerlinck, Renske Siersema, Lauren Stam, Anne Veenendaal, Maria Verschoor, Lieke van Wijk, Xan de Waard

Article Originally From http://www.fih.ch/