Germany’s women became the first side to reach the EuroHockey Indoor Championships semi-final as they landed back-to-back wins in Minsk on Friday.
They opened up with a 4-1 win over the Czech Republic before seeing off Ukraine 4-3 in game two with Club an der Alster’s Hanna Valentin’s late penalty corner settling the game.
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Two Lea Stöckel goals and another from Valentin had Germany 3-1 clear before Ukraine fought back to equalise before Valentin got the winner.
It leaves them needing one point from their final group game against bottom side Belgium to top the group.
Coach Akim Bouchouchi is pleased with the situation: “It’s nice that we were able to win the Ukraine game in the end and it was important our corner worked in the end.
“Unfortunately, we ae having problems from corners; otherwise, we could have decided the game earlier. But it was a good step forward to get into the semi-finals.
“Lea Stöckel was very strong and she brought forward an individual performance that you need when you might not be able to outplay the opponents tactically.”
In Pool B, the Netherlands lead the way with a 5-0 win over Switzerland and a 4-1 success against the Belarussian hosts. A point or more from their game against Austria will see them guaranteed to go through as group winners.
In the win over Belarus, goals from Elin van Erk, Lieke van Wijk and Mila Muyselaar transformed a 1-1 tie into a 4-1 success. The side features AH&BC Amsterdam’s Noor de Baat who will line out in the EHL FINAL8.