Hockey
2 September, 2025
Shootouts decide three semis
Wimmera hockey’s semi-final day delivered six action-packed matches, with three draws that needed to be decided with shootouts, and the most significant margin of the games decided by full-time was just two goals.
From six very competitive matches, three teams have now earned a place in their grand finals, three have had their season come to an end, and two others in each division will now play off in the preliminary finals next Saturday to try to remain in the race for the premiership.
The style of play across all games was similar, with evenly matched teams mounting spirited attacks which were regularly repulsed by solid defence, with successful scoring shots at a premium all day.
Open
The Yanac Tigers and Warrack Hoops have regularly met in finals over many years, always putting on a fine display of hockey, and once again, they did not disappoint.
Yanac opened strongly, controlling most of the play in the first two quarters, earning five penalty corners, but were unable to convert due to some strong defence, keeping the game scoreless at the long break.
The third quarter was a much more even period of play.
The Hoops earned two penalty corners to the Tigers’ one, and with both teams regularly breaking into attack, strong defence at both ends of the field continued to keep the game in the balance.
Yanac earned the only two penalty corners for the last quarter, including one that was played out after the final whistle, but no goals resulted, and full time came with the scorecard still empty.
With a winner needing to be decided, the deadlock is broken by a penalty shootout, a series of five penalty shots by each team in which an attacker has 10 seconds one-on-one against the goalkeeper to score.
If the game is still tied, it becomes ‘sudden death’, which continues with each team taking alternate attempts until one team scores and the other doesn’t.
On this occasion, both teams scored twice in the first bracket of five each and they were separated only in the first sudden-death shootout when the Tigers scored and the Hoops didn’t, giving the Tigers the victory and a place in another grand final.
A shootout also decided the other open match after the Horsham Hurricanes and Kaniva Cobras both scored once before the full-time whistle after Kaniva took the lead with a field goal late in the second quarter which was matched by the Hurricanes midway through the third quarter.
A late push by the Cobras earned them several penalty corners towards the end of the last quarter but these were repelled, ensuring the game would be decided in a shootout.
The Hurricanes had the best of the first phase of the match, taking a four-goals-to-one lead after four attempts each, earning themselves an engagement with the Hoops next Saturday.
Women
Yanac’s undefeated status meant that they went into the women’s second semi-final as favourites, but it was against the Dimboola Roos, the team that had presented them the most serious challenge throughout the regular season.
The first quarter was very even, with both teams mounting strong attacking breaks that were well defended, and it was the Roos who broke the game wide open early in the second quarter when Jennie Hauselberger scored a field goal to put Yanac in the unaccustomed position of being behind on the scoreboard, increasing the stakes for the second half.
Another goal to Hauselberger soon after play resumed raised the intensity even more, but Yanac were not about to yield, and following some strong attacking, Mikayla Mackley broke through the Roos’ defence and put Yanac on the scorecard with nine minutes of play remaining in the game.
Following this they earned another three penalty corners which the Roos were able to repel, holding on to their lead until the end, which earned them a place in their first grand final since 2019.
On the other field Kaniva kept their premiership defence alive with a two-goal victory over the Horsham Jets, although they still had to work hard for this result.
After taking the lead in the first quarter the play swung from one end of the field to the other with spirited attacking matched by resolute defence, and it was another Kaniva score in the last two minutes of the game that set the biggest margin of the day at two goals.
These results set the scene for a rematch of last year’s grand final between Yanac and Kaniva in next Saturday’s preliminary final, which promises to be a keenly fought encounter.
Under 16
After the Yanac Warriors and Nhill Leopards swapped top place on the ladder several times between them during the season, their encounter for a place in the grand final was keenly anticipated.
Both teams scored in the first quarter and again in the third to set the scoreline at two-all at the final whistle.
The following shootout yielded two goals to the Warriors but only one to the Leopards, giving the Yanac team the first ticket to the grand final.
The only score in the other under 16 match was by the Warrack Revengers in the third quarter, which saw them defeat the Kaniva Raiders and earn an engagement with the Leopards next weekend.
RESULTS
Open: first semi-final – Horsham Hurricanes 1 (4) (goals J Horsfall 2, W Gulline, T Batchelor, T Leffler; best T Leffler, A Mullane, P Mackereth) defeated Kaniva Cobras 1 (1) (goals J Clark 2; best L Mills, J Clark, J Bedford); second semi-final – Yanac Tigers 0 (3) (goals T Alexander 2, R Croot; best B Alexander, T Alexander, S Alexander) defeated Warrack Hoops 0 (2) (goals R Bennett, S Schultz; best C Bardell, R Bennett, S Schultz)
Women: first semi-final – Kaniva Women 2 (goals L Stimson, I Williams; best L Stimson, S Williams, J Wallis) defeated Horsham Jets 0 (best C Lawson, H Mackereth, J Mackereth); second semi-final – Dimboola Roos 2 (goals J Hauselberger 2; best B McMaster, J Hauselberger, E Baldock) defeated Yanac Women 1 (goal M Mackley; best E Alexander, C Alexander, L Cramer, M Mackley)
Under 16: first semi-final – Warrack Revengers 1 (goal C Bentley; best N Eilola, C Peters, M Bentley) defeated Kaniva Raiders 0 (best R Williams, C Bedford, J Beattie); second semi-final – Yanac Warriors 2 (2) (goals H Zanker 2, A Zanker, S Pedie; best L Dickinson, S Pedie, A Pedie, H Zanker) defeated Nhill Leopards 2 (1) (goals D Bee, N Krelle, O Bone; best B Cannell, O Bone, L Clark, B Clark)
