Lejeune’s arsenal of weapons was deadly effective. Her velvet striking technique and masterful ball control made her an undisputed penalty corner specialist. The 1985-1986 season was her masterpiece: in 21 out of 22 matches, she found the net, and in eight of them she did so three times or more. Yet her career was not without obstacles. Knee problems forced her into a role as a defender a few years later, but even from that position she remained an indispensable force.
‘We played with so much confidence back then. We knew that every ball in front of our stick could produce a goal. That confidence kept you calm in difficult moments. Moreover, I trusted my intuition blindly. I know that Tim Steens, our coach in that season, regularly tantalised me with statistics. He kept exact track of how many times I had scored from penalty corners and so on. That kept me on my toes,’ Lejeune told Hockey.nl a few years ago.
Lejeune concluded her Hoofdklasse career after the 1993-1994 season. Her 265 goals remained a benchmark for decades, until Maartje Paumen (368) and Kim Lammers (319) surpassed her. Still, her name remains synonymous with an era when goal rain and dominance went hand in hand.
