The Netherlands women picked up their first win of the new Pro League season in dominant fashion over Germany. Frédérique Malta tallied twice, picking up her 100th goal for the Oranje.
The Ireland men nearly pulled off an upset over England in their first Pro League match of the 2024-25 season, but were unable to withstand a fourth quarter surge. England sent the match into shootouts, where they won the extra point.
(Women’s) Germany 1 – 6 Netherlands
With less than 24 hours of rest since falling to Argentina in shootouts, Germany was faced with the task of taking on reigning Pro League champion, the Netherlands.
Despite only finding brief moments of possession, Germany kept the Netherlands off the board in the first quarter. Good chances for the Oranje included a backhand shot by Freeke Moes that flew just over the crossover, a Pien Dicke shot saved by Germany’s Nathalie Kubalski and a penalty corner by Jansen that was blocked by the Germany defense.
The tension finally broke for the Netherlands a minute and a half into the second quarter when Moes nailed a backhand shot past Kubalski. Down 1-0, Germany began piecing together more bits of possession, to the frustration of the Oranje. It looked like neither team would score as the quarter drew to a close, but in the final seconds Frédérique Malta pulled right around the goalkeeper to increase the Netherlands lead to 2-0.
Germany won their first set piece opportunity seven minutes into the second half, and on the subsequently awarded penalty corner, won a video referral for a penalty stroke. In a critical moment, the attempt from Stine Kurz was shut down by Anne Veenendal. The missed opportunity only fueled the fire for the Netherlands, who continued to earn penalty corner chances and saw a goal from Jansen at minute 41.
Continuing with a dominant attack in the fourth, the Netherlands earned another set piece chance at minute 49. Despite a less-than-ideal reception at the top, the chance worked out, with Jansen sending the ball to the bottom right corner. Malta then tallied her 100th goal off a penalty stroke attempt the next minute, giving the Netherlands a solid 5-0 lead. In minute 52 Germany found a consolation goal off a penalty corner straight shot by Lisa Nolte. In retaliation, Moes dribbled past the Germany defensive line and nailed a clean reverse shot for their sixth and final goal of the match.
The Netherlands’s Frédérique Malta was named the Player of the Match and said: “I think we have a very new team here today, a very young team, we have four debutants, so I think it’s very nice to just play together again after the Olympic Games of course. So to win here with six goals we are very happy. So new team, new year, new Pro League – we are happy to kick off this tournament here today and happy with the win.”
(Men’s) England 3 (3) – 3 (2) Ireland
Adam Walker – in his senior debut – opened up the scoring for Ireland with a powerful drag flick, off of a penalty corner won in the fourth minute. As the two teams settled in, both sides saw some offensive chances, and with two minutes remaining in the first, England goalkeeper James Mazarelo shut down an Ireland set piece opportunity.
Ireland needed just 35 seconds of the second frame to double their lead. A fast break up the field materialized into a one-time reverse chip into the cage from Jonathan Lynch. The second half of the frame was characterized by England on the attack and James Milliken making clutch saves in net for Ireland. England’s Stuart Rushmere and Sam Ward both missed out on their respective penalty corner chances.
Ireland substituted Luke Roleston in goal to start the third, and he performed up to par with his first half counterpart. England kept up their tempo but continued to be shut down by the Ireland defense, as well as fail to capitalize on their chances – including a beautifully executed pass up to an unmarked Sam Ward, which saw no result. Despite all their possession, England trailed 2-0 heading into the final frame.
The fourth quarter had no shortage of action. England finally caught their break when a penalty corner was converted by James Albery on the rebound. With 10 minutes remaining, an Ireland set piece was blocked on the line by Thomas Sorsby, preventing the goal but conceding a penalty stroke, which was made by Cole Lee. With 7 minutes to score two goals, England pulled their goalkeeper to enjoy an extra field player. The move paid off, as Nicholas Park dribbled baseline and sent the ball center, where Jack Waller guided it into the cage. With zip in their step, England tallied another not one minute later, finished by Zachary Wallace to tie the match 3-3 before the final hooter.
Daragh Walsh got the shootouts started for Ireland, making good on his attempt. England’s Albery kept it tied with a reverse shot, then Walker was denied by Mazarelo and Conor Williamson faced the same fate from Roleston. Lynch notched a second for Ireland, but Stuart Rushmere followed up for England, putting the score at 2-2 after three attempts. Everything stayed even after the fourth round when Conor Empey and Jack Waller missed for Ireland and England, respectively. The fifth round was the final as Ireland’s Alistair Empey was shut down and Zach Wallace converted to give England the 3-2 shootout victory.
England’s James Albery was named the Player of the Match and said: “Really tough game. We definitely didn’t start how we wanted to. We spoke about how many threats they have as a team, and we didn’t get it right at the start by any means, but credit to the boys we came out second half and managed to pull ourselves out of the hole, so really pleased with everyone.”
Current Hero Top Scorers:
Women – Charlotte Englebert (BEL) and Vanessa Blockmans (BEL) (3 goals)
Men – Tom Boon (BEL) (8 goals)
To see the current standings in the FIH Hockey Pro League, click here.
FIH Hockey Pro League – 11 December 2024
Santiago del Estero Hockey Club, Santiago del Estero (ARG)
WOMEN
Result Match 8 (W): Germany 1 – 6 Netherlands
Player of the match: Frédérique Malta (NED)
Umpires: Victoria Pazos (PAR), Jonathan Altamirano (MEX), Pauline Cuypers (BEL) (video)
MEN
Result Match 8 (M): England 3 (3) – 3 (2) Ireland
Player of the match: James Albery (ENG)
Umpires: Tyler Klenk (CAN), Benjamin Peters (USA), Sean Rapaport (RSA) (video)
#FIHProLeague
#MadeForHockey
Keep up to date with all the latest news on the FIH Hockey Pro League via the event website and through the FIH social media channels – Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Where to watch the matches?
- Click hereto find out the list of all broadcasters showing matches in your country
- For the countries with no broadcaster featured, the matches are available HERE
- For a country with a broadcaster featured, the neutral matches (= matches where the team of this specific country is not playing) are also available HERE, except for India, the Maldives, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, South and Central America, the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa.
