NSW Pride Claim Dual Bronze Medals After Dramatic Final Day Performances

The NSW Pride Men and Women have both secured Bronze Medals on the final day of the Hockey One season, winning their respective medal matches in thrilling fashion.

The NSW Pride Women defeated Adelaide Fire 3-2, dramatically scoring the winning goal with just 3 seconds remaining on the clock after trailing for the entire game, while the NSW Pride Men thrashed Brisbane Blaze 10-4 in an emphatic reversal of their Semi-Final yesterday.

In the Women’s match a physical and combative contest saw Adelaide grab a 2-0 lead at halftime through a double to Georgina Dowd. Pride players Laura Reid (broken finger), Emmalee Croker (shoulder), and Grace Young (hip) were all on the receiving end of rough challenges that resulted in injury, with only Young able to return to the field after treatment. Maddison Smith scored from 
a penalty corner with powerful direct strike to halve the deficit in the third quarter, leading to a nail-biting final quarter.

Mariah Williams earned a penalty stroke after being fouled in the circle during a goalscoring opportunity, and calmly converted from the spot to draw the scores level with just 3 seconds remaining on the clock. Under the unique rules of Hockey One, she then had the chance to win the match with a one-on-one conversion attempt, which she again showed her steel by slotting 
past Hockeyroos teammate and goalkeeper Aleisha Power in the Adelaide Fire net to spark wild celebrations.

“I got to that moment where I feel like I had her [Power] committed and all I needed to do was flick it into the net, and thank God it worked, because I’m sure the girls would have been mad at me if I didn’t get it in,” Williams said of her winning goal.

“We’ve had a few losses, in terms of players and experience, but that’s okay – I’m really proud of the girls that came through. The young ones stepped up and showed that we have depth in NSW,” she said.

NSW Pride Head Coach Scott Barker was full of praise for the determination and grit his side showed to overcome enormous adversity and fight back to win.

“I’m incredibly proud. The resilience that the players played with in the most courageous game I’ve probably ever been involved with – like, we had LG [Laura Reid] break her finger in the first few minutes, Em Croker’s shoulder went down as well, we had some knee issues, and basically we were looking over and had no players left on the bench,” he said.

“There was a momentum shift about 5 minutes to go and we were getting pumped and Tegan Neowhouse in goals made a couple of incredible saves that keeps us in the fight,” he said.

“When Mariah had that opportunity [to win the game] I was incredibly calm,” he said. “What gave me the calmness was you look on the back of the shirt and it had Williams on the back. She’s been in those pressure moments plenty of times… she thrives on these situations,” Barker said.

In the Men’s match it was a procession for the NSW Pride, with Kurt Lovett opening the scoring in the 3rd minute with a brilliant reverse-stick shot from an angle, and they never let up. Lovett ended the match with four goals, while Angus Callinan and Albert Beltran both scored twice to add to the massive win.

NSW Pride Men Head Coach Kieran Govers said it was a brilliant effort from his entire squad to bounce back from the semi-final disappointment.

“We silenced a few critics. They probably would have been laughing last night, but we had the last laugh in the end, even though [Bronze] is the wrong colour,” he said.

“The boys worked so hard after the disappointment from yesterday, so to put a performance like that on the pitch – I’m just proud of the team,” Govers said.

Star player Ryan Woolnough echoed the sentiments of his coach.

“Obviously there were a few people that said we had no hope. So, to finish second through the round stages and finish third overall is a really good effort and has hopefully proved some people wrong. That was a huge motivating factor for us,” he said.

“[Kieran Govers as a coach] was really good. He’s always got the boys up and at it,” he said.

“He’s a really good presence around the group.”

The Bronze medals cap off a Hockey One season where the NSW Pride were also awarded the “One Hockey Cup” for the best-performed overall club throughout the season across Men’s and Women’s programs.