WARRNAMBOOL export Madi Ratfliffe and her Hockey Club Melbourne teammates fell agonizingly short of securing the inaugural Hockey One women's title on Saturday.
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HC Melbourne and Brisbane Blaze, who both scored once, were unable to be split after more than an hour of play in the grand final at the State Netball and Hockey Centre.
Deadlocked at 1-1 with less than four minutes remaining Ratcliffe stepped up to take a penalty stroke after the ball had struck a Brisbane Blaze foot on its way in to goal but it was saved by Blaze goalkeeper Hannah Astbury.
The game then went to a penalty shootout which ended in a 2-2 draw, sending the decider into a sudden-death shootout.
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Ratcliffe took the final penalty of the opening shootout and the first of the sudden-death shootout, both of which were blocked by Astbury.
The 22-year-old then had to watch on in hope with her teammates as Blaze and Hockeyroos star Rosie Malone slotted the next goal past Rachael Lynch to seal the victory.
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Sean Hardeman
I'm a sports journalist for the Warrnambool Standard who covers a number of different sports across the south-west of Victoria. I enjoy watching cycling, surfing, football, soccer and Formula 1.
I'm a sports journalist for the Warrnambool Standard who covers a number of different sports across the south-west of Victoria. I enjoy watching cycling, surfing, football, soccer and Formula 1.
