Yibbi Jansen’s single penalty corner goal fired SCHC to their first ever ABN AMRO EHL Women’s title as the club from Bilthoven defeated HC Den Bosch 1-0 in an all‑Dutch final.
It was a formative moment as they overcame the pain of a number of frustrating near misses on silverware both domestically and in the EHL to land the big prize at Oosterplas.
SCHC’s route to the title underlined their growing authority. After comfortably dismissing Club Egara 6-1 in the round of 16, they shut out Braxgata and Mannheimer HC in the knockout rounds, conceding no goals on the way to the final.
The final itself was never likely to be free‑flowing. As so often when these two giants meet, space was scarce and chances were rationed.
Early on, both sides tested each other’s organisation rather than their goalkeepers. Den Bosch carried danger through Joosje Burg and Frédérique Matla while SCHC threatened intermittently on the counter, most notably through Pien Dicke’s driving runs down the baseline.
Penalty corners were oddly rare, too. SCHC’s first set‑play went awry with an ambitious variation, a reminder of past Dutch finals where promising positions failed to yield reward.
Yet this time, the response was different: calm, measured, and confident that patience would not be punished as it had been before.
The decisive moment arrived midway through the second half. Winning a second penalty corner, SCHC abandoned invention for clarity. Yibbi Jansen stepped up and powered a low push beyond the Den Bosch defence and goalkeeper, a strike as clean as it was symbolic. It was a lead SCHC would refuse to relinquish.
The final quarter was less about aesthetics than resolve. Den Bosch pushed, winning a late corner that briefly lifted the sold out stands but SCHC’s defence held firm.
When the final whistle sounded, relief spilled instantly into celebration: hugs, tears, and disbelief mixed together as years of near‑misses evaporated in a single moment.
Captain Renée van Laarhoven articulated to hockey.nl what the victory represented for a squad that had carried disappointment for so long.
She admitted there were times players wondered “would it ever happen?”
‘”I am so proud that we roll up our sleeves again every September. Saying to each other: okay, we’re going to try again. We’re going for it again.
“That takes so much strength. At a certain point, you can also think: Jesus, I don’t feel like doing this anymore. It hurts so much, losing every time.
“But we agreed together: no, it’s not over yet. There will come a moment when we do win it, and then we’ll be glad that we never gave up.”
Van Laarhoven also highlighted that the win was built on lessons learned the hard way.
“Over the years, we have learned what it takes to win matches. And it doesn’t have to be pretty. That might not be fun for the crowd but it is what is necessary.
“These have been hard lessons over the past few years. But we have learned that we simply have to do what is necessary to get a game over the finish line.”
For Den Bosch, it meant a second EHL silver medal to go with three golds in the six editions of the women’s competition.
Mannheimer HC, meanwhile, got their second EHL medal as they added bronze to the silver won two years ago as they defeated Real Club de Campo de Madrid.
They won a thriller with Stine Kurz settling the matter with a penalty stroke with four minutes to go earning them a 3-2 win.
Blanca Perez had given the Spanish side the lead early on from a corner but Mannheim swapped the advantage by half-time with Julia Hemmerle and Charlotte Gerstenhöfer on the mark.
Campo were on top for most of the second half and levelled through Sara Barrios but Mannheim got their stroke from a fast counter for the game’s defining moment.
ABN AMRO EHL Women – final rankings
1. SCHC (NED)
2. HC ‘s-Hertogenbosch (NED)
3. Mannheimer HC (GER)
4. Real Club de Campo Villa de Madrid (ESP)
5= Braxgata HC (BEL)
5= Gantoise HC (BEL)
7= Harvestehuder THC (GER)
7= Watsonians HC (SCO)
9= Railway Union HC (IRL)
9= Reading HC (ENG)
11= SK Slavia Prague (CZE)
11= Club Egara (ESP)
