HF Lorenzoni won the women’s EuroHockey Indoor Club Challenge in assertive style as they beat Copenhagen HC 5-1 in the closing game in Murska Sobota.
The tie was effectively a winner-takes-all battle and it was the Italian side who took the laurels with as they burst clear in the third quarter.
The first half was nip and tuck with Sara Agrò’s opening goal cancelled out by Cecile Jacobsen for the Danish team. But a quickfire triple from Alessia Anania, Veronika Bassi and Rebecca Piccolo between the 24th and 26th minutes soon established a 4-1 lead and Lorenzoni never looked back.
Agrò added some extra insurance to the scoreline and they can now look forward to Italian hockey having a spot in the Club Trophy in 2025.
Earlier, Lisbon Casuals kept alive their promotion chances and ended those of Ukimerioni Kutaisi in the process in a 5-4 thriller. It was level four time but, ultimately, Valeria Garcia’s 35th minute penalty corner settled the game.
Prior to that, the Casuals led on four separate occasions, 1-0 in Q1 and 2-1 at half-time, then 3-2 going into the final quarter before a late flurry of goals.
And that result was ultimately enough for them to get promotion for Portugal on goal difference, two ahead of Copenhagen after their defeat by four goals.
In Pool C, Partille eased to fifth spot with a 9-0 win over Moravske Toplice with teenager Nora Thien scoring a hat trick.
FHC Akademik Plus Sofia took sixth spot via a 5-3 success over Hungary’s BKGDSE-Fasor. After an initial exchange of goals between Elena Pesheva and Boglárka Györfi, the Bulgarian side was largely in control.
They went back in front in Q2 through Tania Ivanova and Q3 corners from Ventsislava and Tereza Indzhova extended the advantage to 4-2 en route to their third win from five games this weekend.
Women’s EuroHockey Indoor Club Challenge I (Murska Sobota, Slovenia)
1. HF Lorenzoni (Italy)
2. Lisbon Casuals (Portugal)
3. Copenhagen HC (Denmark)
4. Ukimerioni Kutaisi (Georgia)
5. Partille (Sweden)
6. FHC Akademik Plus Sofia (Bulgaria)
7. BKGDSE-Fasor (Hungary)
8. HK Moravske Toplice (Slovenia)
