The La Trobe University Hockey Club Women’s 1s Vic League team made a perfect season in 2023, finishing the year in style with a 2-1 win against regional Mooroopna in the Grand Final and going the year undefeated.
In front of a good crowd of red and white at the State Hockey Centre in glorious sun, the women got off to a flier when a Stella Bernardi cross found a perfectly placed Juanita Low on the spot for an incredible deflection. The women asserted its dominance, with numerous short corners before a clinical corner from club legend Meryl McGlone found the bottom corner. The Gunners went into the half time break 2-0 up.
The third quarter was much the same until Mooroopna worked a well organised corner to bring the score back to 2-1. The last quarter was a nerve racking few minutes for coach Taya Stuart and with the heat setting in, both teams were fatiguing. Experienced players McGlone and Rachael Bannan steadied the ship and got the entire team composed and playing with a bit more patience. La Trobe came close to scoring a third goal from short corners but Mooroopna had the last few minutes of attack. Our defense stood up strong and absorbed the numerous attacks until the final whistle.
We held on and finished the game 2-1 and Premiers for 2023. First year player, Juanita Low, who also won our Women’s Round Best Player Medal earlier in the year, was awarded Best On Ground for her goal and attacking play up front all day.
It is the club’s first Women’s 1s Premiership since 1995 and fifth Women’s State League/Vic League Premiership in our history. The team had a great mix of experienced players, local students, students from abroad and some young talent from our junior program. Congratulations to Taya and to the team on an unbelievable season which sees the girls return to Vic League 1 in 2024.