Scotland U18 Girls 1-1 (3-2) Austria U18 Girls
A sensational 3-2 shootout victory, after a 1-1 draw at full time, saw Scotland U18 Girls into the 7th place play-off against Ireland at the U18 EuroHockey Championships in Krefeld.
It was a game of relentless Scotland pressure against a resolute and stubborn Austrian defence.
The Scots started with a high press, winning the ball high up the pitch, and it forced Austria to camp in their own circle. Despite having so much of the ball, and fashioning so many circle entries, the crowded circle stopped the Scots creating any clean opportunities.
It was a dominant performance throughout. Ava Wadsworth was an exceptional driving force from the back, and brought great energy to the team. Darcy Littlefield wide on the right offered fantastic width to build, and Keira Forster led well.
Despite peppering the circle throughout, there were only two real chances – the first was a penalty corner effort that sailed over the bar, and the other was a far post finish that went just wide of the mark.
In the final quarter, Scotland momentarily switched off, and Philipa Proksch put Austria ahead with the minutes ticking down. It was only the second circle entry for Austria in the match, and a ball smashed into the circle took a wicked bounce and cracked against the post, only to fall kindly to Proksch to score.
Scotland immediately took the goalkeeper off and went into full attack. They were deservedly rewarded with under three minutes left to play, when Lexie MacMillan equalised to take Scotland to the shootout. From the bassline the ball saw squared to MacMillian who scrambled well to fire home for 1-1.
Cat Nelli and MacMillan converted the first two penalties for Scotland, to match Austria and make it 2-2. Then the nail biting really began. After three Lucy Harris saves, Scotland’s last penalty was converted by Ava Wadsworth to make it 3-2 and win the day for Scotland. Wadsworth, in an exceptional display of nerve, carried the ball on her stick and lobbed the keeper to give Scotland the win.
Head Coach Kelly Fillingham said, “We’re proud of the players. It showed tremendous bravery and character to lose a goal like that, so late in the game, and then come back. We probably had about 85% possession in the game, and we should have scored more. It’s a definite lesson that we have to take our chances in the circle.
“We’re looking forward to our last game, and the chance to put things right against Ireland. Sadly we’re already down but the game is so important for the ranking points. So we’ll be out to finish with pride, and on a high.”
