Season kick-off of Eredivisie women's water polo with four matches
In the first round of the Eredivisie Ladies, four matches were played yesterday and today. The women's team of Polar Bears did not play. Reigning champion ZV De Zaan hosted Het Ravijn yesterday (winning 13-5), and they won this evening in Leiden with a score of 4-15 against ZVL-1886.
ZV De Zaan - Het Ravijn
Kila van der Veen opened the score yesterday in Zaan's first attack. After the lead, Iris Vreeling equalized. Mick van den Bree's team entered the second period with a 3-1 lead, but the away team started strongly with a goal from Pien Gorter. Zaan pushed back, scored twice, and Susan de Vries seemed to bring her team back into the game. Despite Nijverdal offering good resistance throughout the match, Zaan played a business-like and controlled game. The Ravijn's new goalkeeper, Polina Oleksandra, who transferred from SV Blau-Weiβ, played a strong game and prevented a larger goal difference. Captain De Vries reflects on the match.
"We showed no fear of the reigning champions and gave our all as a team from start to finish. This resulted in a good defense, with excellent goalkeeping from our new goalkeeper! We struggled offensively against Zaan's strong defense, resulting in a final score of 13-5. We look back positively on this match, where we showed what we are capable of."
The match photos taken by Hanny van den Dobbelsteen can be found on the KNZB image bank. The match can be rewatched on the live stream on the Eyecons platform.
The Ravijn will host UZSC next week, while ZV De Zaan will play in Berlin in the second Euro Cup qualification round. They are in Group B with Ethnikos, CN Catalunya, Spandau 04, and Hapoel Yoqneam.
Period scores 3-1, 6-3, 9-3, 13-5
Goal scorers:
ZV De Zaan; Kila van der Veen and Malissa van Rijn (Both 3), Nerida Drewes and Lieke Rogge (Both 2), Bente Rogge, Takyiwa Sam, and unknown player (All 1).
Het Ravijn: Susan de Vries, Iris Vreeling, Pien Gorter, Margreet ter Schure, and Annefleur ten Bloemendaal (All 1).
UZSC - ZV De Ham 10-9
Period scores: 2-2, 4-2, 9-5, 10-9
Last night, UZSC hosted ZV De Ham in Utrecht. The teams were evenly matched in the early stages, but UZSC took control more in the second and third periods. The team under new coach Rob Bijeman built a comfortable lead that they maintained until halfway through the final period. In the last quarter, UZSC's scoring slowed down while De Ham sensed a chance for victory in the final moments. Despite a comeback by the team from Krommenie, they ultimately fell short, and the points stayed in De Krommerijn.
Goals:
UZSC: Eleni Bovali (4), Isis Keijzer and Sterre Bijkerk (Both 2), Hanna Hogervorst and Karen Haksteen (Both 1).
ZV De Ham: Lizette Rozeboom (5), Regina van t Veer (2), Duchanka Kammerman, and Amy Rozemeijer (Both 1).
ZV De Ham coach Koen de Weerd noted that the lost game could have gone the other way.
"It's a shame that it just wasn't enough in the end. The narrow loss came down to details like the choices we made in front of the goal earlier in the game. This caused us to miss two or three big chances. This is an area we need to work on. We can be proud of the resilience we showed in the last period. We remained active and attacking even as we grew tired. Defensively, we remained calm and communicated well."
According to UZSC team manager Patricia Bijeman, the Utrecht team could have sealed the game earlier.
"We made it unnecessarily exciting, but we saw many positive aspects, such as the strong goalkeeping by Anne Klein Langenhorst (3 periods) and Jade Sinnema (1 period). On to the next match!"
UZSC will host Het Ravijn next week, while ZV De Ham will play against PSV at home.
PSV - GZC DONK 5-27
Period scores: 0-5, 2-11, 3-17, 5-27
ZVL-1886 - ZV De Zaan 4-15
Period scores: 1-6, 1-10, 2-12, 4-15
