Women’s Hockey India League: Soorma Hockey Club hands Odisha Warriors its first loss of the season
The Odisha Warriors was condemned to its first loss of the season by the JSW Soorma Hockey Club by a 1-2 margin on Wednesday in the Women’s Hockey India League at the Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Munda Stadium here.
They say well begun is only half done. Having got off to a confident start, the Warriors learned it the hard way when Baljeet Kaur couldn’t convert in a relatively easy opportunity two minutes from pushback. But their opponents soon got the scoreboard running against the passage of play.
Sophie Hamilton broke free from a barricade of players, crossed over to the left wing, and found Ajmina Kujur. The midfielder passed to Hina Bano, lurking inside the box, and the faintest of touches from the latter was enough to see the ball roll home.
Even luck didn’t seem to favour the Warriors, who didn’t have Paris Olympics’ highest goalscorer Yibbi Jansen to take either of their five penalty corners (PC) in the opening 30 minutes owing to rolling substitutions. Claire Colwill had a shy at the board twice from either battery, but Savita proved difficult to beat.
Jansen did take her first PC in the second half, but once again the Indian custodian stood tall. Later, Olivia Shannon, who was impressive in the Soorma’s campaign opener, put herself in a good position on the right and reached out to Sonam, who dinked the ball past Jocelyn Bartram.
One would think the writing was on the wall when Warriors captain Neha Goyal, presented with a free ball right in front of goal, lost her footing. But in a classic case of ‘too little, too late’, Freeke Moes, reacting to a defensive lapse, slapped an angled shot past an outstretched Savita with three minutes remaining on the clock.
The results: JSW Soorma Hockey Club 2 (Bano 6, Sonam 47) bt Odisha Warriors (Moes 57) 1.