ACT U21 MEN CROWNED INDOOR NATIONAL CHAMPIONS

The ACT Open Men’s team has been crowned National Champions in front of a passionate home crowd at the National Hockey Centre, defeating Queensland 6-4 in today’s final.

Although the team had a slow start to the tournament, they steadily built momentum through the round games, finishing third overall. This positioned them in a second pool, forcing them to take the longer route to the semi-finals. However, this may have been beneficial, as the team found their rhythm as the tournament progressed. On Sunday morning, they defeated NSW 4-2 to secure their spot in the final.

In the afternoon's final, after a scoreless first quarter, the ACT team came out strong in the second. In a three-minute burst, five goals from Logan Stewart, Aiden Dooley, Aidan Smith, and two from Mathew Young effectively put the game beyond Queensland’s reach. Queensland did manage to pull one back just before halftime through a Lachlan Davies field goal, but with ACT leading 5-1, a comeback always seemed unlikely.

Dooley added another goal in the third quarter to seal the win. Queensland managed a couple of consolation goals in the fourth quarter, but the match ended 6-4 in favour of the ACT.

This victory capped off a fantastic week for ACT men's indoor hockey, with the Open Men’s team winning the National Championships on Wednesday. Three players from the Open Men’s team – Dooley, Fin Hegyi, and Cameron Brick – also competed in the U21s tournament.

The women’s team also had a strong week, replicating their opens counterparts with the second bronze medal for ACT at the Championships. They were incredibly unlucky not to make the gold medal match, as a 40th-minute goal by Victoria dashed their hopes of back-to-back gold medal appearances. They finished 1-2, with the Victorians taking the win. In the bronze medal match, ACT dominated NSW, with Georgia Staines converting two penalty corners and Sophie Bolton adding a 19th-minute field goal to seal the victory.

Staines finished as one of the top goal scorers, sharing the honour with teammate Chloe Barton and four other players: Madison Clark (WA), Mimi Humphreys (QLD), and Taylah Jones (NSW).

The indoor action continues at Lyneham after Christmas with the U18 National Championships starting on 6^th January 2025, followed by the U14 and U16 championships.

Results:

Men:

Gold Medal: ACT 6 (Aiden Dooley 2, Mathew Young 2, Logan Stewart, Aidan Smith) – QLD (Lachlan Davies, Sam Riggs, Jacob Wilson, Brayden Naess.

Women:

Gold Medal: Queensland 1 (Montana Carr) – VIC 0

Bronze Medal: ACT 3 (Georgia Staines 2, Sophie Bolton) – NSW (Taylah Jones)

Final Standings:

Men                                                                              Women

Gold – Australian Capital Territory                            Gold – Queensland

Silver – Queensland                                                 Silver – Victoria

Bronze – New South Wales                                      Bronze – Australian Capital Territory