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News for 29 October 2020

All the news for Thursday 29 October 2020


2020 FIH Pro League - 29 October

2020 FIH Pro League (Men)

19:00  (GMT +1)     NED - GBR     RR     -     Wagener Hockey Stadium, Amstelveen

2020 FIH Pro League (Women)

16:30  (GMT +1)     NED - GBR     RR     -     Wagener Hockey Stadium, Amstelveen

Keep up to date with all the latest news on the FIH Hockey Pro League via the Watch.Hockey app, event website and through FIH social media channels - Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Live streaming and full game replay on the Watch Hockey App (May be Geo blocked if there is TV coverage)

Pool Standings

Men's Pool

R Team GP W WD D LD L GD P
1 Belgium 8 5 1 0 1 1 13 18
2 Australia 8 3 1 0 3 1 7 14
3 Netherlands 7 3 2 0 1 1 1 14
4 India 6 2 2 0 0 2 2 10
5 Argentina 8 2 1 0 2 3 -2 10
6 New Zealand 8 2 1 0 0 5 -10 8
7 Spain 8 2 0 0 1 5 -8 7
8 Germany 4 1 2 0 0 1 -1 7
9 Great Britain 5 1 0 0 2 2 -2 5

Women's Pool

R Team GP W WD LD L GD P
1 Argentina 8 5 1 0 2 11 17
2 Netherlands 6 4 1 0 1 14 17
3 New Zealand 8 4 0 2 2 5 14
4 Australia 6 1 1 1 2 -3 9
5 Germany 2 2 0 0 0 4 6
6 Great Britain 5 1 1 1 1 2 6
7 Belgium 6 1 1 1 3 -6 6
8 China 2 0 0 0 2 -5 0
9 United States 5 0 0 0 5 -22 0

USA v NED (26.01.2020) worth double points because of the match cancelled on 24.01.2020
AUS v GBR (01.02.2020) worth double points because of the match cancelled on 02.02.2020

FIH Match Centre



Ireland's hockey captain Katie Mullan sets eyes on Olympic podium

After claiming an historic qualification place at the upcoming Games, the 26-year-old forward has high hopes for the World Cup silver medallists.

By Sanjeev Palar ·


Ireland's hockey captain Katie Mullan sets eyes on Olympic podium

Ireland's women's hockey team is not your average top tier team.

Unlike their peers, the Irish women are all semi-professional players with day jobs. Which makes their accomplishments in recent years even more impressive as captain Katie Mullan shares exclusively with Olympic Channel.

Mullan and her teammates have qualified for their nation's first ever Olympics and the 26-year-old has set high targets for herself and the squad at the upcoming Games in Tokyo.

"Having won the World Cup silver medal at the last major tournament, we have to set our goals on winning an Olympic medal." - Katie Mullan

Ireland's captain Katie Mullan on the frontline during Covid pandemic

26-year-old Katie Mullan also works as a medical visualisation engineer and...

Fighting the Covid pandemic

Unlike most elite athletes, Mullan along with her teammates all hold jobs around their training routine.

Mullan works as a medical visualisation engineer in a company that prints 3D anatomical models for surgeons to help them with complex case surgeries.

However, when training came to a halt earlier this year, it gave Mullan the opportunity to put in more hours at her day job and to play a part in the fight against the spread of the Covid virus.

During lockdown she shared how she was helping to "produce lots of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) to help the healthcare and hospital industry with preparing for the influx of patients due to Covid."

"It was nice to be involved in the frontline and see results. We were working long, long hours... but it was it was brilliant experience." - Katie Mullan


Katie Mullan of Ireland celebrates their silver medal at the FIH 2018 Womens Hockey World Cup

Winning World Cup silver

Ireland's women's hockey team had never won any major international silverware before 2018.

Prior to that the squad had only finished as high as 11th place at the 1996 World Cup.

The 2018 edition saw the 16th-ranked team enjoy a dream run in the tournament, that earned them a spot in the final. Although they eventually lost to the top-ranked Netherlands in the final, they managed to clinch their maiden medal at an international event

"We took the World Cup by storm. And I think we shocked everybody, including ourselves in the very end. We really believed we could do something special and a World Cup silver medal is definitely that." - Katie Mullan

It was a huge result for the small hockey nation, which Mullan attributes to not only the players out on the field, but also those who had played before them, adding " for a number of years, there has been decades of players that have represented Ireland and sacrifice ten, twelve years of their life to play for Ireland. And it was as much about those players that had paved the way for us to have the opportunity to go and do it, as it was about us that day. So it was a huge celebration for hockey in Ireland."


Ireland's captain Katie Mullan celebrates their quarter-finals victory at the FIH 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup

A repeat at the Olympics

As a result of their success, the team have moved up to eight in the world rankings, the highest they've ever been.

While there have been changed to the squad, the captain is aiming to finish above their world ranking and sees no reason why they shouldn't set their sights on a podium finish in Japan.

"It would be silly of us not to have that goal having come off the back of winning a World Cup silver medal." - Katie Mullan

Olympic Channel



Playing elite sport is Birmingham's social time while East Grinstead see value in TV return

In other news, the league could now stretch to January due to postponements

By Rod Gilmour


Birmingham show sense of fun against East Grinstead on Saturday Credit: Eva Gilbert

"I'm not going to lie, it's been really difficult," says Richard Chambers, University of Birmingham women's coach. "We are a really close unit and my aim has been to make it a really fun environment because of the student restrictions. This is their social time, they can't go out as much in terms of the social aspect."

Hockey has certainly been a release for this season's Birmingham squad, despite Chambers' side sitting second bottom of the Women's Premier Division. Outside of the match environment, the players are in a constant bubble, taking in university, hockey, team and house protocols. "We have lots of different layers and it has been tough for them," he adds.

Chambers has constantly stressed the fun factor. Even at half-time against East Grinstead on Saturday, he told the team pitchside: "Go out and enjoy it." Hockey is currently the only elite sport competing competitively at Birmingham, with 12 teams across both genders. Meanwhile, the BUCS league has been put on hold until January, when a regionalised competition is mooted with no promotion or relegation, leaving Chambers to focus on this season's top flight.

"It's like cabin fever," says Chambers. "They come to play hockey for four hours every week before matches and hockey has been their release. In other sports, students have struggled as they don't have that."

The 2020/21 season has been some introduction to Premier Division coaching for Chambers, who took over from the revered Phil Gooderham after 15 years in the role. Given that Chambers has been coached by Gooderham since he was aged five, he maintains that the university philosophies are no different. "Phil was a massive part of Birmingham University, and still is, but it's a new era with the women. We don't have the likes of Lily Owsley, but we don't have players dipping in and out and we are much more settled now."

By that, he means that Birmingham are without senior internationals this season, while he has used 26 university-based players already this season. "We really want to have a go and not stand back," he says.

On the playing side, meanwhile, hockey has allowed the squad to forge a strong bond outside of the "current chaos" of university life, according to Pippa Lock.

She said: "With most of our course work being online and not being able to socialise outside of household bubbles, hockey provides a sense of routine and purpose for most of us and gives us the chance to get out of the house and to just have fun with our team-mates.

"It allows us to forget about the pandemic for a bit and just enjoy playing alongside friends. I am so grateful that we’ve been able to continue with it despite the current restrictions."

East Grinstead see value in TV return

It has been six years since East Grinstead's last broadcast a live game at the EuroHockey Indoor Club Cup, the tournament they hosted in Crawley. On Saturday, against Birmingham, the chance came to 'reignite' their in-house production arm and livestream the club's equality approach, with both the men and women in action. At half-time, the two East Grinstead female commentators across both games, Pippa Chapman and Becky Waters, linked to a live Q&A with their four players missing to GB international duty. It was a fun interlude and underlined the attraction of the game's top stars playing more of a role in club hockey, especially with GB funding uncertain and more club contact time likely after Tokyo 2020.


East Grinstead are the latest club to use live streaming for games

East Grinstead women duly maintained their place atop the Premier Division with a tight 3-2 win over Birmingham. The league's leading scorer, Sophie Bray, netted a double against her former side and was once again the star turn. However it was Birmingham who played the better hockey for large swathes of the match as they managed to net their first goals in 286 minutes. "It was a positive performance," said Chambers, Birmingham's coach. "There's no reason why we can't finish in the top six. The league is still wide open. It's been different and we still don't know what's going to happen in three weeks' time."

Elsewhere, Nicola White scored her first goal since returning from her long-term concussion injury in Hampstead's late-show win over Holcombe.

League could stretch to January

While Swansea's fixture on Saturday was curtailed due to 'fire break' restrictions in Wales, Bristol-based Clifton Robinsons also felt the effects. Eight players in the Clifton women's squad are based in Wales, with five playing regularly, and the club was granted a postponement against Buckingham. With an international window planned for this weekend and again for mid-November when GB play Germany, Juliet Rayden, Clifton's coach, believes that the first phase of the league season "could go into January" - with no indoor action this season - if there are more postponements.

Several clubs have been granted postponements in the last few weeks, while others have questioned the process if denied a request. "We are proposing a threshold where a large number of regular players are unavailable to a team due to the impact of Covid being a level where a club may postpone a fixture, once we have more data we will agree the actual level," England Hockey has told clubs. "Unavailability can be due to testing positive, requiring to self-isolate or residing in a lockdown area that means it is not possible to travel to play. As a general guide a regular player is one who has played in 50 per cent or more of a team’s matches at time of postponement but others can be considered."

Women's Premier Division
Results

Holcombe 0 Hampstead & Westminster 1; East Grinstead 3 University of Birmingham 2; Beeston 0 Wimbledon 1

Next fixtures

Nov 7: Hampstead & Westminster v Clifton Robinsons 1:30pm; Beeston v Surbiton 2pm; Swansea v Loughborough Students 2pm; University of Birmingham v Holcombe 2.30pm; East Grinstead v Wimbledon 4:30pm

*All times as currently published by England Hockey

What's on this week

Tuesday & Thursday: Holland v GB women, both 3.30pm
Saturday & Sunday: Belgium v GB women, both 1pm

Live on BT Sport

The Telegraph



Loughborough Students on university life & strong start to season



Sitting third in the Women’s Hockey League Premier Division, Loughborough Students have two games in hand on the leaders and a real sense of momentum within their squad.

They have also, to date, escaped much of the Covid disruption that has had such an impact on many university sports teams up and down the country.

Loughborough Students have made a tremendous start to the season, winning three of their opening matches and drawing with last season’s champions Surbiton in another.

They have also seen goalkeeper Miriam Pritchard selected for the Great Britain squad which is currently contesting the FIH Hockey Pro League with the Netherlands.

Captain Ella Cusack and defender Iona Campbell offer their insights into how the university side are managing to perform with consistency and success, despite the restrictions imposed by Covid-19.

“After so long not being able to play hockey I think we were all just very excited and grateful to get back on the pitch,” says Cusack.

“We used the time we were unable to be together to work out our goals for the season and what we wanted to achieve as a team, so when we were able to begin pre-season training, we were able to make positive steps forward.

“We also usually have some form of competitive element in our training to try and re-enact game scenarios so we felt confident in roles going into the first game.”

Now they are back on the pitch playing competitive hockey, every member of the student side is determined to be as vigilant as possible in order to continue to play and also to maintain the momentum the side has gathered.

“As a team, we understand that to continue to play safely for as long as possible, we must be extremely vigilant and follow the procedures put in place by both Loughborough University and England Hockey,” explained Cusack.

“It was made very clear to the team and other athletes at the university that if we would like to benefit from all the university has to offer to elite sports people then we would need to be strict with ourselves and adhere to the rules put in place to keep us and others safe,” adds Campbell.

For the athletes, this means not just adhering to the Government’s rules on the numbers of people who could socialise and wearing face masks in public indoor spaces but also rules and behaviours advised by the university and head coach Brett Holland.

“Everyone knows that socialising is a huge part of university life,” adds Campbell, “but, for the moment, we have been asked to be sensible with how and when we socialise outside our training bubbles. This is sometimes challenging as young student athletes but at the end of the day, when looking at the bigger picture, it is a sacrifice we are all happy to make.”

The team also ensures that it trains in the same bubbles, always books track and trace gym sessions, regularly uses hand sanitisers and takes regular temperature checks. These are all measures the team has signed up to as a collective, explains Cusack.

“With cases rising at universities, it has become incredibly important we make sensible decisions about how we are spending our time outside of hockey. We have had a really strong start to the season and we have the mutual understanding that to continue to play and build this momentum, we must act responsibly and safely in all aspects of student life.”



While the pandemic is hitting university hockey teams hard at the moment Cusack points out that, for much of the time, a university team will have one big advantage over its rivals. As students, the players can spend a lot more time together, both on and off the pitch, than players who have to combine working commitments with training.

And at Loughborough, as is the case with other sports-focused universities, there is the added motivation of seeing other elite athletes also going about their training with dedication and commitment. The atmosphere of an elite performance environment is one that tends to motivate and inspire athletes as inter-sport rivalries act as an almost subconscious source of competitiveness.

“There is something really unique about walking to training and going past other teams from other sports, all training hard ready for their competition,” says Cusack.

“We are fortunate to have access to top sporting facilities to enhance our training and we all feel proud to represent a university that is renowned for its sporting success at an international level.”

For Campbell, who spent time playing at HGC in Holland, the Loughborough experience is proving an eye-opener in many ways.

“One thing that I have noticed about Loughborough's approach to preparation is how much off the pitch work can benefit our on the pitch performance. For example, I had never been to organised and regular team gym sessions before moving to Loughborough where we train in the gym together at least twice a week.

“There is also a massive tactical focus supported by weekly video analysis and stats. We also receive plenty of nutritional and physio support to help prepare our bodies the best we can for training and games.”

Of course, the current situation has meant the students cannot spend as much time together after matches as they would normally do. Cusack says the players and coaching staff have been forced to adapt behaviours and spend more time connecting digitally to ensure the team maintains a sense of togetherness. It is a challenge that Cusack says the team has embraced.

“Being adaptable both on and off the pitch has become a real strength of the team and has helped us to have a really strong start to the season.”

Both Campbell and Cusack have other calls on their time besides Loughborough hockey commitments.

Campbell is part of the Great Britain Elite Development Programme (EDP), where potential international players are developed and nurtured. The national training programme involves biweekly training days/camps, game series against other nations and competitive tournaments in the summer.

She says the two commitments work very well alongside each other, with the Loughborough programme tapering off around April. It is at that point the national programme tends to ramp up.

Cusack herself has graduated and has just started a new job and she says that hockey has given her a huge amount of resilience going into the workplace.

“The job market for graduates is very difficult at the moment and the resilience I developed from years of hockey has helped me bounce back from rejected applications. I have fortunately been able to secure a role I really enjoy. I work in a team of people and largely attribute the skills I have to work successfully in a team to years of playing sport.”

England Hockey Board Media release



Weekend College Games: Atlantic Coast Conference


Image Courtesy of Boston College Athletics

As the only conference playing field hockey this fall, the Atlantic Coast Conference's (ACC) seventh and final weekend of regular season action will have two games Friday and one game each on Saturday and Sunday. Almost all of this weekend's matchups are available to watch on the ACC Network.

The ACC Tournament will take place November 5, 6 and 6 at Duke University's Williams Field at Jack Katz Stadium. Click here for more information.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30

No. 1 Louisville at No. 3 Syracuse** | 2:00 p.m. ET | Stats

To start the final stint of ACC regular season games, No. 1 Louisville (7-0, 5-0 ACC) will head to New York to take on No. 3 Syracuse (3-3, 2-2 ACC). The Cardinals and Syracuse last met in the 2019 ACC Quarterfinals, where Louisville came out the victors, 1-0.

Louisville is coming off a two-win weekend against No. 4 Virginia. On Friday, Mercedes Pastor got the scoring started for the Cardinals when she converted on a penalty stroke midway through the first quarter. Four minutes later Aimee Plumb deflected Pastor's penalty corner shot in to give Louisville a 2-0 advantage. Virginia cut the lead in half early in the second quarter when Adele Iacobucci connected on a feed from Rachel Robinson. As the third quarter opened, the Cardinals attacked early and after earning three straight penalty corners in the third minute of the quarter, Pastor's shot found the back of the cage to increase Louisville's lead to 3-1. Three minutes later, Virginia responded behind a tip in goal from Laura Janssen to make it a 3-2 game. Louisville countered with 34 seconds left to play in the third quarter when Katie Schneider sent a pass from outside the circle and Madison Walsh put it into the cage, putting the Cardinals on top 4-2. The Cards completed the scoring in the fourth quarter when Embry Imorde's pass in front of Virginia goalkeeper Taylor Henriksen found the stick of a diving Margot Lawn to give Louisville the 5-2 win. The victory also matches the best start in program history for the Cardinals and set a new Louisville record for ACC victories in a season.

On Saturday, the teams played through a scoreless first half before the Cardinals broke through with a penalty corner goal midway through the third quarter. Alli Bitting got the play started and Meghan Schneider provided the stop for Pastor who blasted it into the cage to give Louisville a 1-0 lead. Virginia responded in the fourth quarter behind a goal from Janssen to even the score at 1-1 with just over nine minutes left to play. The Cardinals were awarded three consecutive corners in the final two minutes, but Virginia's defense held strong to keep Louisville at bay. Virginia had chances as well when Louisville was issued back-to-back yellow cards. The game seemed destined for overtime but with 30 seconds left to play, the Cavaliers were awarded a 16-yard hit out of the circle and sent the ball downfield, but Louisville's Charlie van Oirschot intercepted the ball near midfield and gave it to Pastor who broke to the circle before a dishing a feed to Walsh. The forward sent the ball past Virginia's goalkeeper Lauren Hausheer to seal the win.

Syracuse did not play last weekend and will look to continue the momentum from their two game win streak. The previous weekend, the Orange played three games in four days when they faced No. 2 North Carolina for one game and No. 5 Wake Forest in back-to-back contests. Against UNC, the scoreboard remained locked at a pair of zeros for 52 minutes. While both teams were serving offsetting yellow cards in the fourth quarter, North Carolina was awarded a penalty corner, where Erin Matson scored up the middle to give the Tar Heels the 1-0 win. The Tar Heels held a 6-3 advantage in penalty corners and outshot the Orange 9 to 6. The two teams combined for just three shots on goal, two of which belonged to Syracuse.

In the first match against Wake Forest, the Demon Deacons took an early lead when Meike Lanckohr scored on a pass from Eleanor Winants in the fourth minute of the game. Two minutes later Charlotte de Vries evened the score for the Orange with an unassisted goal. The two teams held the tie through the first half with Wake Forest holding a 7 to 1 advantage over Syracuse on shots and a 4 to 0 advantage in penalty corners.

With 11 minutes remaining in regulation, Carly Bothof scored the eventual game-winning goal for Syracuse. Her initial shot was deflected by Wake Forest's goalkeeper Ally Butler but a defensive misplay by the Demon Deacons led to a scramble in front of the goal where Bothof connected to tap in the first goal of her Syracuse career.

It took an overtime period for a winner to be decided in the second game. Wake Forest controlled the first quarter of play outshooting the Orange 10 to 0 but Orange goalkeeper Syd Taylor was dominant, turning away a career-high five saves as Syracuse's starting goalkeeper. The Orange defense came up clutch to end the first quarter, stopping the Demon Deacons on three-straight penalty corners in the final minute of play to keep Wake Forest off the scoreboard. The Orange momentum picked up as the game continued but neither team was able to score through the first half.

Early in the fourth quarter Wake Forest pulled ahead when Nat Friedman scored for a 1-0 lead. As time dwindled down Syracuse Head Coach Ange Bradley pulled Taylor from goal to add an extra punch to the Syracuse attack and the plan payed off. The Orange managed to draw a penalty corner with 22 seconds to go in regulation. SJ Quigley inserted the ball to de Vries, who made a quick pass to an open Eefke van den Nieuwenhof, who fired a shot past Wake Forest's Butler to tie things at 1-1.

Syracuse dominated the overtime period and with under four minutes to play Quigley positioned herself in front of an open gap to knock in a pass from Bothof for the win. Wake Forest outshot the Orange 21 to 8 and had a 7 to 3 advantage in penalty corners in the non-conference matinee.

No. 5 Wake Forest at No. 2 North Carolina** | 4:30 p.m. ET | ACCN

No. 5 Wake Forest (2-6, 1-3 ACC) will head east to Chapel Hill, N.C. to face No. 2 North Carolina (6-1, 3-1 ACC) for a Friday evening showdown. These two teams opened the ACC season back in September, where the Tar Heels got goals from three different players to claim the 3-1 win.

Wake Forest is coming off a split result weekend against No. 7 Duke. On Friday, and Demon Deacon Senior Day, the game was scoreless after the first period. The Blue Devils opened the scoring in the 20th minute on a penalty stroke converted by Lexi Davidson.The Demon Deacons answered back in the third quarter as Meike Lanckohr found the back on the net on a pass from Laia Vancells, tying the game at 1-1. Neither team could take the lead in regulation as both sides went into overtime for the second consecutive game.

Three minutes into overtime, Duke goalkeeper Piper Hampsch made a crucial save for Duke, but just over a minute later, Wake Forest's Grace Delmotte knocked in a pass from Abby Carpenter past Hampsch for the game winner. The Blue Devils outshot the Demon Deacons, 14 to 12, and took 15 corners to Wake Forest's four.

On Sunday, Duke came out aggressive in the first period, registering five shots and both of its penalty corners. The Blue Devils capitalized on their second corner opportunity in the 11th minute, as Eva Nunnink slipped the ball past the Wake Forest goalkeeper Ally Butler into the left side of the cage. Wake Forest only managed to get off three shots, with one on target, but Duke goalkeeper Hamsch was there to make the saves to keep Wake Forest off the board. Wake Forest recorded its first shot of the match off a penalty quarter in the second period, but Duke's defense blocked the chance at tying the game and held a 1-0 advantage heading into the second half.

Sprinting from one end of the field to the other, Darcy Bourne drew a penalty stroke in the 44th minute for Duke's third straight match with a stroke. Bourne buried the shot into the top left corner and expanded Duke's lead to 2-0.

The Tar Heels did not see action last weekend, as they were supposed to travel to Chestnut Hill, Mass. to face No. 6 Boston College but the match was postponed due to one positive COVID-19 test of a student-athlete on the Boston College team. The weekend before, they recorded two wins against No. 3 Syracuse and No. 7 Duke. Against the Orange, the scoreboard remained locked at a pair of zeros for 52 minutes. While both teams were serving offsetting yellow cards in the fourth quarter, North Carolina was awarded a penalty corner, where Erin Matson scored up the middle to give the Tar Heels the 1-0 win. The Tar Heels held a 6-3 advantage in penalty corners and outshot the Orange 9 to 6. The two teams combined for just three shots on goal, two of which belonged to Syracuse.

Against the Blue Devils, the game was back-and-forth throughout. Duke struck first, in the fourth minute of play, when Josie Varney took a pass from Alayna Burns and sent the ball into the upper right corner of the cage to put the Blue Devils up 1-0. UNC answered just 19 seconds later, on the first penalty corner opportunity of the day. With Cassie Sumfest sending a drag flick just inside the left post to tie the game at 1-1. Duke scored early in the second quarter to retake the lead. This time it was Lily Posternak on the goal, assisted by Hannah Miller. Again, the Tar Heels answered, scoring just over four minutes later on their second penalty corner of the game. Erin Matson received the ball from Sumfest and got around one defender then split two others before sending a shot into the lower left of the cage to make it 2-2 at halftime.

Tar Heel Eva Smolenaars scored back-to-back goals, one in the third quarter and again in the fourth, to give UNC a two-goal lead. In the 41st minute of play, Madison Orobono sent a ball through the circle from the right side and Smolenaars redirected it just inside the left post to give North Carolina their first lead, 3-2. Early in the fourth quarter on a break, Smolenaars got a pass from Matson at the top of the circle, spun and sent a rocket past the Duke goalkeeper Hampsch for a 4-2 advantage with 13 minutes left to play. Duke answered just under two minutes later on a penalty corner. Nunnink passed to Leah Crouse for the score, drawing the visitors within one. The dramatic tying goal came with 10 seconds on the clock, when the Blue Devils were awarded a penalty stroke. Lexi Davidson buried it to tie the game at 4-4 and send it into overtime.

The teams played through four minutes of extra time before Matson connected with Hannah Griggs for the game winner.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31

No. 4 Virginia at No. 7 Duke** | 1:00 p.m. ET | ACCN

No. 4 Virginia (3-5, 2-2 ACC) and No. 7 Duke (1-6, 0-4 ACC) will meet for their final regular season ACC content in Durham, N.C. The last time these teams met was in the 2019 ACC Quarterfinals, where the Cavaliers defeated the Blue Devils 2-1, although Duke recorded a shot advantage of 20 to 4.

Virginia is coming off a two-loss weekend when they faced No. 1 Louisville. On Friday, Mercedes Pastor got the scoring started for the Cardinals when she converted on a penalty stroke midway through the first quarter. Four minutes later Aimee Plumb deflected Pastor's penalty corner shot in to give Louisville a 2-0 advantage. Virginia cut the lead in half early in the second quarter when Adele Iacobucci connected on a feed from Rachel Robinson. As the third quarter opened, the Cardinals attacked early and after earning three straight penalty corners in the third minute of the quarter, Pastor's shot found the back of the cage to increase Louisville's lead to 3-1. Three minutes later, Virginia responded behind a tip in goal from Laura Janssen to make it a 3-2 game. Louisville countered with 34 seconds left to play in the third quarter when Katie Schneider sent a pass from outside the circle and Madison Walsh put it into the cage, putting the Cardinals on top 4-2. The Cards completed the scoring in the fourth quarter when Embry Imorde's pass in front of Virginia goalkeeper Taylor Henriksen found the stick of a diving Margot Lawn to give Louisville the 5-2 win. The victory also matches the best start in program history for the Cardinals and set a new Louisville record for ACC victories in a season.

On Saturday, the teams played through a scoreless first half before the Cardinals broke through with a penalty corner goal midway through the third quarter. Alli Bitting got the play started and Meghan Schneider provided the stop for Pastor who blasted it into the cage to give Louisville a 1-0 lead. Virginia responded in the fourth quarter behind a goal from Janssen to even the score at 1-1 with just over nine minutes left to play.  The Cardinals were awarded three consecutive corners in the final two minutes, but Virginia's defense held strong to keep Louisville at bay. Virginia had chances as well when Louisville was issued back-to-back yellow cards. The game seemed destined for overtime but with 30 seconds left to play, the Cavaliers were awarded a 16-yard hit out of the circle and sent the ball downfield, but Louisville's Charlie van Oirschot intercepted the ball near midfield and gave it to Pastor who broke  to the circle before a dishing a feed to Walsh. The forward sent the ball past Virginia's goalkeeper Lauren Hausheer to seal the win.

Duke split results last weekend when they played No. 5 Wake Forest, one contests in Winston-Salem, N.C. and the other in Durham, N.C. On Friday and Demon Deacon Senior Day, the game was scoreless after the first period. The Blue Devils opened the scoring in the 20th minute on a penalty stroke converted by Lexi Davidson.The Demon Deacons answered back in the third quarter as Meike Lanckohr found the back on the net on a pass from Laia Vancells, tying the game at 1-1. Neither team could take the lead in regulation as both sides went into overtime for the second consecutive game.

Three minutes into overtime, Duke goalkeeper Piper Hampsch made a crucial save for Duke, but just over a minute later, Wake Forest's Grace Delmotte knocked in a pass from Abby Carpenter past Hampsch for the game winner. The Blue Devils outshot the Demon Deacons, 14 to 12, and took 15 corners to Wake Forest's four.

On Sunday, Duke came out aggressive in the first period, registering five shots and both of its penalty corners. The Blue Devils capitalized on their second corner opportunity in the 11th minute, as Eva Nunnink slipped the ball past the Wake Forest goalkeeper Ally Butler into the left side of the cage. Wake Forest only managed to get off three shots, with one on target, but Duke goalkeeper Hamsch was there to make the saves to keep Wake Forest off the board. Wake Forest recorded its first shot of the match off a penalty quarter in the second period, but Duke's defense blocked the chance at tying the game and held a 1-0 advantage heading into the second half.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1

No. 5 Wake Forest at No. 6 Boston College** | 12:00 p.m. ET | ACCN

No. 5 Wake Forest (2-6, 1-3 ACC) will head to Chestnut Hill to take on No. 6 Boston College (0-1, 0-1 ACC) for the Eagles' first match back after a five game postponement due to a positive COVID-19 test of a student-athlete. The Demon Deacon and Eagles last played in the 2019 ACC Quarterfinals, where it was Boston College who claimed a 2-0 win.

Wake Forest is coming off a split result weekend against No. 7 Duke. On Friday and Demon Deacon Senior Day, the game was scoreless after the first period. The Blue Devils opened the scoring in the 20th minute on a penalty stroke converted by Lexi Davidson.The Demon Deacons answered back in the third quarter as Meike Lanckohr found the back on the net on a pass from Laia Vancells, tying the game at 1-1. Neither team could take the lead in regulation as both sides went into overtime for the second consecutive game.

Three minutes into overtime, Duke goalkeeper Piper Hampsch made a crucial save for Duke, but just over a minute later, Wake Forest's Grace Delmotte knocked in a pass from Abby Carpenter past Hampsch for the game winner. The Blue Devils outshot the Demon Deacons, 14 to 12, and took 15 corners to Wake Forest's four.

On Sunday, Duke came out aggressive in the first period, registering five shots and both of its penalty corners. The Blue Devils capitalized on their second corner opportunity in the 11th minute, as Eva Nunnink slipped the ball past the Wake Forest goalkeeper Ally Butler into the left side of the cage. Wake Forest only managed to get off three shots, with one on target, but Duke goalkeeper Hamsch was there to make the saves to keep Wake Forest off the board. Wake Forest recorded its first shot of the match off a penalty quarter in the second period, but Duke's defense blocked the chance at tying the game and held a 1-0 advantage heading into the second half.

Sprinting from one end of the field to the other, Darcy Bourne drew a penalty stroke in the 44th minute for Duke's third straight match with a stroke. Bourne buried the shot into the top left corner and expanded Duke's lead to 2-0.

Boston College has only played one contest of the ACC regular season matches after a student-athlete on the team tested positive for COVID-19, forcing a five-game postponement. The Eagles season opener was on the road against Louisville. The Cardinals scored first on a penalty corner through Megan Schneider before Eagle Elizabeth Warner tied it late in the first half. She found a loose ball in the circle, spun around a defender and put the ball in the back of the net. The game remained tied for about 15 more minutes until Louisville took the lead off a penalty corner rebound goal from Charlie van Oirschot. Boston College had a handful of chances to tie it late, winning three penalty corners in the final five minutes, but couldn't capitalize. The match saw the Eagles fight and claw to stay in, as they were out-shot 19 to 4, while the Cardinals had nine penalty corners on the day to Boston College's four.

USFHA media release



Valeria Pardo: the driving force behind Bolivia's hockey growth



Valeria Pardo has been described as the engine of Bolivian hockey. She is also a history maker for the South American country as she was the first player to score for the team in an international competition, when she scored the opening two goals in Bolivia’s 4-1 win over Uruguay at the Cochabamba South America Games 2018.

Pardo was captain that day and, after the game, which was played in front of 250 Bolivian fans, she said: “I received the ball, I saw the space and without thinking I hit the ball. It was spectacular. I dreamed it all my life, since I start following hockey on TV and Internet.”

Those goals and that victory raised the profile of hockey from zero to making significant headway in the football-mad country. Prior to the South America Games, most people in Bolivia had never heard of hockey, let alone watched a game. The games, which were held in Bolivia, were the first time the men’s and women’s national hockey teams had taken part in an official tournament.

But if anyone was going to push hockey into the national consciousness it was Pardo. The Bolivian national team player is one of those rare people who display a ‘can do’ attitude whenever a challenge or a barrier stands in their way.

For her day job, Pardo is a sports development officer in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, the largest city in Bolivia. In a city where football is by far the most popular sport, Pardo has been pushing the cause of hockey both as a development officer and as someone truly immersed in the game.



Hockey in Bolivia is hugely under-financed and under-resourced but somehow, Pardo has managed to source funding and manage the meagre budget so that Bolivia now has both a women’s and men’s national team. Both teams also have a world ranking; the men are ranked 79th and the women are ranked 70th in the world.

Pardo is determined to develop the national team further. Prior to the pandemic and its accompanying travel restrictions, she travelled to Argentina for 10 days to learn all she could from coaches in the spiritual home of hockey. Working with PAHF coach Daniel Santi, she soaked up all the knowledge she could during that coaching sabbatical. Since the pandemic put a halt to travel, she has been attending PAHF coaching webinars.

The inspirational player and coach’s motivation and determination is infectious. The players have raised funds to self-finance trips to Salta in Argentina, where they got competitive experience against provincial teams. The teams would leave Bolivia on a Friday, undergo a long coach trip to Salta, play and train all weekend before returning to Bolivia for work on Monday morning.

FIH site



Ailing hockey Olympian Mohinder Pal Singh desperately seeks kidney donor


Ailing hockey Olympian Mohinder Pal Singh desperately seeks kidney donor  |  Photo Credit: IANS

New Delhi: Indian hockey Olympian Mohinder Pal Singh, who mastered converting penalty corners into goals in 1980s, is on dialysis as he has still not found a kidney donor. Both of Singh's kidneys are damaged and he has been searching for a donor for about a month.

Singh, 58, was admitted to the Apollo Hospital in south Delhi and discharged on Tuesday,, his wife Shivjeet said on Wednesday. He is at home and will be visiting the hospital a few times every week for dialysis.

A group of senior hockey Olympians sought a meeting with Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday to put in a request for assistance to the ailing former penalty corner specialist. But the meeting couldn't take place as Rijiju was apparently not available. The meeting is now likely to take place on Thursday, a sports ministry source said.

The Olympians, including Maharaj Krishan Kaushik and Romeo James, besides Shivjeet, are going to request the Sports Minister to provide assistance to the full-back under Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay National Welfare Fund for Sportspersons (PDUNWFS), and to also recommend Singh's name for immediate replacement of at least one kidney at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi.

Under PDUNWFS, the ministry provides assistance for medical treatment up to Rs 10 lakh for an "outstanding sportsperson or of any of his/her family members living in indigent circumstances".

"I was supposed to go for Tuesday's meeting with the Sports Minister, but I am presently out of Delhi. I am told that the meeting didn't happen on Wednesday. We, former India players, are requesting him to help in kidney replacement of MP, who has damaged both his kidney and is undergoing dialysis," Zafar Iqbal, who has played with Singh and worked with him at Air India, told IANS.

Ashok Kumar Dhyan Chand, a former India captain, said Singh deserved the assistance as he was one of the best in business in his prime.

"The government should provide to MP Singh whatever assistance is available for former India players who are ailing. He was the best penalty corner converter in his time [1980s], besides being a pillar of the Indian Airlines team," Ashok Kumar, son of hockey wizard Dhyan Chand, told IANS.

Singh's wife Shivjeet said she has circulated a request for a kidney donor on the social media, and all hockey stalwarts have endorsed it.

"He was also being treated after water had reached his lungs during dialysis. He was discharged from Apollo Hospital on Tuesday and has returned home. But he will be going to the hospital thrice a week for dialysis. We have circulated a request for a kidney donor only on social media, and nowhere else," she said.

The sports ministry source said that only the timing of the meeting remains to be confirmed.

"His papers are with us and the processing of the same has started and I don't think there should be a problem in Singh getting the assistance available under PDUNWFS. But as far as their request for out of queue treatment at the AIIMS is concerned, that request will have to go the health ministry as only they are authorised to take that decision," the source said.

Singh, having attended St. Mary's School in Meerut, captained India at the Junior World Cup in Kuala Lumpur in 1982 and the same year he played his first international. He went on to play in the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games and the 1986 World Cup in London.

Times Now News

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