THE St Mary’s DSG Kloof first hockey team recently won the 2018 St Mary’s (Waverley) Investec Hockey Festival in its 19th year of play.
The local team beat 32 teams from across South Africa, Namibia and England during four days of fast-paced hockey.
The final was played in front of an estimated crowd of more than 2 000 hockey supporters.
St Mary’s fought to win this prestigious cup and knocked C and N Sekondêre Meisieskool Oranje (OMS) from the podium, a team which has won the last four years in a row. St Mary’s DSG, Kloof played 12 games, lost one, drew two and won nine.
In the semi-final against Herschel and the final against Collegiate went to a five-minute golden goal extra time and then eight second shootouts (where a player takes on the goalie and has to try and score within eight seconds).
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The atmosphere during the final was electric with girls from both teams rising to the challenge and playing some outstanding hockey.
The final against Collegiate Girls’ High School was a close match with the score being 0 – 0 at the end of full time and still tied at the end of the extra five-minute golden goal period.
The eight-second shootout became the decider and the St Mary’s goalkeeper, Nicola Havenga, did a brilliant job at keeping out their first two shots.
The St Mary’s strikers, Leah Piggott and Cailynn Den Bakker, responded to the opportunity this created and made sure of their shots by beating the Collegiate keeper on her non-stick side and slotting their goals into the back of the net.
The last time St Mary’s DSG, Kloof won this tournament was when their coach, Kelly Reed (nee Madsen), was in the team in 2007.
“The team spirit, support and commitment shown by this team and coaches has been exemplary. Well done team,” said the school’s marketing and communications administrator, Lisa Abbott.
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