Bec Lee and her Canberra Chill have fallen one game short of qualifying for the inaugural Women's Hockey One grand final, after suffering a defeat on penalties to HC Melbourne on Sunday afternoon.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Chill entered the do-or-die semi-final against the regular season minor premiers and at the end of four quarters, the scores were locked at nil-all.
So up next was the dreaded penalty shoot-out, with Chill missing all five of its shots.
HC Melbourne scored the one and only penalty via the stick of Madi Ratcliffe.
READ MORE:
It now brings an end to Lee's inaugural season with Chill, who qualified for the finals after a dramatic last round where Tassie Tigers won 5-3 against the Perth Thundersticks, to deny the latter a chance to jump the Canberra side and qualify for the end-of-season play-offs.
Lee said it was a tough way to lose the match.
"We're pretty devastated, especially that it went to a shootout," she said.
"Our reflection after the game was that that match should've been the gold medal match, in terms of how tight the game was and the quality of it.
"For it be nil-all at fulltime and only one person getting their shootout goal in, that's a reflection of how tight the game was."
The two sides couldn't be split after four quarters which sent the game into a shootout where the Chill would ultimately fall at the hands of Australian goalkeeper Rachael Lynch.
Canberra missed their opening three shots and it seemed as though Melbourne would do the same when Madi Ratcliffe was denied.
But she was gifted a second chance after an infringement and she made the most of it to put the minor premiers in front.
Naomi Evans and Brooke Peris couldn't square the ledger in reply, leaving Canberra to rue what might have been.
Regardless of the result, Lee said she's enjoyed the new Hockey One competition, which replaced the old state/territory-based carnival format.
"I really enjoyed it and I really liked the home and away, especially because fatigued didn't really came into it because we weren't playing back-to-back games," she said.
"I think in the terms of the matches, they were really good.
"My reflections, in terms of what happened on Sunday, having that one chance and then you're out, maybe we should have some more crossovers to get the rights teams in that final game. Last season we had a finals week, which I found was good."
In the other semi-final on Saturday, Brisbane Blaze downed Adelaide Fire 3-0.
The grand final will be played in Melbourne on November 16, between HC Melbourne and Brisbane Blaze.
Want to keep up to date with Bathurst sport? Sign up to our daily newsletter and breaking news alerts here:
