Rylie Wilcox, LTUCH Junior
The Victorian Hockey 2014 Zone Challenge finished on Sunday the 23rd of November.
La Trobe University Hockey Club was represented by current LTUHC Junior Member Rylie Wilcox and two former LTUHC Junior Members, Taysen Wilcox and Hannah Eldridge. The girls played in the North West Metro ‘Orange & Black’ Tigers, and finished a very respectable 3rd in the ten-team competition with 6 wins, 2 losses and 1 draw. They scored a total of 27 goals (at least 1 in each game) and conceded 9.
Rylie and Hannah had a difficult baptism of fire on the first day of the tournament, not used to the level of intensity in representative hockey and somewhat over awed by their older, bigger and stronger opposition. To their credit they both settled down to their respective on field tasks and made good, solid contributions to the Tigers for the remaining games in the Zone Challenge. Hannah mainly played in a defensive role, with strong tackling and managed a few great runs through the middle. Rylie predominantly played left wing and did some great work in the attack which resulted in a least two Tiger goals. Rylie managed to score her first ever goal in Zone Challenge after calmly trapping a pass from her sister and slapping it through the goal keepers legs!
Rylie and Hannah will no doubt continue to represent the Tigers in years to come.
Taysen had a fantastic Zone Challenge leading the Tiger’s goal scoring tally with eight and setting up numerous others. She consistently used her pace to get around players down the right side to provide a cross to a number of Tigers queuing up in the attacking D. Hockey Victoria rewarded Taysen’s Zone Challenge efforts by offering hera spot in the 2014/2015 Hockey Victoria Junior Academy. She has accepted and is aiming for a spot in the 2015 Victorian U13 girls team.
Well done to Rylie, Hannah and Taysen. These three girls were part of the fledgling LTUHC Junior Hockey Program and have made a great contribution to the North West Metro Tigers. We look forward to seeing more LTUHC representation in the Tigers in the near future.