Over the last couple of weeks, the world of field hockey has been treated to some great action in the Women’s Hockey India League. Four teams with professional players from many major hockey-playing nations have come together in Chennai, India for a double-round robin competition that leads to tomorrow’s final, which is available on the Hockey India League YouTube page.
The two sides, S.G. Pipers and the Shrachi Bengal Tigers, are the survivors of the league phase of the competition and meet in Saturday’s final, which will take place starting at 9 a.m. Eastern time, 6 a.m. Pacific. The winner will take home the second league title, following on from last year’s win by the Odisha Warriors.
Here’s what you should know about the finalists:
Shrachi Bengal Tigers
Record: 4-2, 10 points
Key Players: Agustina Gorzelany (d), Jenny Rizzo (g), Lairemsiami (f/m), Valentina Raposo (d), Sosha Benninga (f), Monika (m)
The skinny: Aside from an uncharacteristic 5-0 loss in the second game of the league phase, the Bengals have had the best defense in the league. The Bengal Tigers beat the S.G. Pipers twice in the league phase, both by shootout. However, Shrachi wouldn’t have had to go to the shootout in the first win over the Pipers had the Bengals not surrendered two late goals while the team was playing with eight outfielders because of two cards, including an ill-timed 10-minute yellow.
If you leave the game to Rizzo, who is in the U.S. women’s national team pool, she will come up with some 10-bell saves. This was shown in the first encounter between the two sides, where Rizzo came up with a highlight-reel double save in the penalty shootout, which the Tigers won 4-3 after a 3-3 draw.
Shrachi should win this game, given its defense-first ethic and game-changing play from Gorzelany and Rizzo. However, bear in mind the Jim Davis First Law of Field Hockey, which holds that it is difficult for one team to beat another the third time in a season because the winning team on the first two occasions will tend to think they can just show up and win. But this is the nascent world of professional women’s field hockey, where anything can happen.
S.G. Pipers
Record: 3-3, 11 points
Key Players: Navneet Kaur (f), Lola Riera (m), Sunelita Toppo (f/m), Kaitlin Nobbs (m), Bansari Solanki (g)
The skinny:The Pipers, despite winning the regular-season title, have to think it is leading a charmed life. The team won the title on points despite having fewer wins than their opponents, the Shrachi Bengal Tigers.
SG has some of the finest individiual talents in Kaur and Toppo, who can flat-out bury you for pace on the attack end. Kaur scored perhaps the finest goal of the preliminary games with a 60-yard run and blast.
The Pipers have found their match, however, in their opponents in the final, Shrachi. The amazing thing is that, in the second time the two teams met each other, the they played a goalless draw, then the Pipers put in six shootout goals against the Bengal Rigers.
The problem is, Shrachi put in seven in an epic shootout that lasted nine rounds, the eighth of which had two video referrals which led to penalty strokes for each side.