German women win EuroHockey
August 24, 2013Some 5,000 spectators were at the Braxgata Hockey Club in Boom, Belgium, to see the highest-scoring final in the history of the competition.
The first half provided plenty of talking points, with seven of the eight goals coming ahead of the break. England opened the scoring with a penalty corner by Georgie Twigg, just before Eileen Hoffmann returned the favor by converting a penalty corner at the other end.
Hoffmann also scored in the 15th minute, with Tina Bachmann converting a direct penalty on after 22 minutes with Hannah Kürger scoring on 35.
The other first-half scorers for England were Kate Walsh (9 minutes) and Helen Richardson (30). In a second half that saw both sides take down the tempo, Lily Owsley was the only scorer on 67 minutes.
In the penalty shootout that followed regular play, German goalkeeper Kim Platten saved three penalties and one shot going wide. At the other end, Maike Stöckel and Jana Teschke succeeded in converting to ensure Germany were able to take home the contests diamond stick.
The country's male hockey players have also made the final, and face host nation Belgium on Sunday.
rc/hc (dpa SID)