Girls EuroHockey U18 Championship II-A (Zagreb, Croatia)
Eleonora di Paola’s 59th minute goal send Italy into raptures of delight as they won the girls EuroHockey U18 Championships II-A title in Zagreb in the closing minutes of a wonderful tournament.
It was an incredibly tight event from start to finish with each nation having different times in contention for gold and promotion to the top tier in 2025.
As such, it was fitting the tournament came down to the last action with Italy coming from seemingly nowhere to take the laurels.
Indeed, on Friday morning, they were bottom of the pool but a win over the Czech Republic and this 2-1 success against Switzerland saw them emerge.
Going into finals day, it looked a long-shot. Had either of Lithuania or the Czechs won the opening game, they would have taken gold.
Both had their chances in a game which ended 2-2. The latter initially took the lead via Kamila Minariková but replies from Adeina Tomkevičiūte and Rugilė Daukantaitė had Lithuania in pole position until eight minutes from the end.
But a Lucie Nová equaliser ruled Lithuania out of the running and left the Czechs still in the lead but needing the Swiss and Italy to draw – both required a win for their own targets.
Chiara Bevilacqua put Italy in front in the fourth minute and for a long time that looked to be enough for them before a true rollercoaster of an endgame occurred.
The Swiss equalised in the 57th minute via Tabea Schorno – putting the Czechs in the temporary lead – but di Paola got an instant response to make it 2-1 and start the party.
Italy go into the top division for 2025 while Czech Republic and Lithuania qualify for Championship II next time around.
Final standings
- Italy
- Czech Republic
- Lithuania
- Switzerland
- Croatia
