As we approach the final run-in in the Women’s Division de Honor, there are no signs of the players’ hunger faltering, with some excellent, high-intensity matches playing-out on Matchday 18.
While the top-two kept their winning rhythm flowing, with Sabadell downing Mediterrani and Mataro wiping the floor with Tenerife, there was a lot of excitement and unpredictability across the other four games.
Two games could have gone either way; but Terrassa came up clutch against Sant Andreu in a tense shootout (16-15), while Catalunya left it late to spare their blushes against Boadilla in the Spanish Capital. There were important wins in the bottom half of the table for Barceloneta and CN Rubi.
2022/23 Women’s Spanish League, Day 18
Astralpool Sabadell 11 – 7 CE Mediterrani (4-1, 2-3, 2-2, 3-1)
Sabadell: L. Ester, M. Ortiz, P. Leiton, S. Van der Sloot, M. Serrano, M. Steffens, E. Ruiz 3, M. Garcia 1, J. Forca 1, B. Ortiz 3, N. Perez 1, I. Gonzalez 2, M. Carrasco
Mediterrani: I. Costa, A. Munoz, A. Crevier, A. Marcos, P. Prats 1, C. Rodriguez, C. Espar 1, D. Moreno, M. Viladot, H. Dalmases, P. Crespi 2, S. Lizotte 3, G. Palm
CN Terrassa 16 – 15 CN Sant Andreu (1-3, 2-2, 4-3, 3-2, PSO: 6-5)
Terrassa: S. Domene, M. Fernandez, K. Paul 2, N. Cuenda Morillo 1, C. Cantero 1, D. Quinzada, N. Ten Broek 4, P. Pena 4, D. Menakerman, P. Camus 1, A. Finestra, F. Bosveld 3, E. Monllor
Sant Andreu: A. Lorca, A. Rego, N. perez 3, Q. Boixadera, G. La Farre Colominas 3, H. Shabb, M. Cordobes 3, E. Lemay-Lavoie, I. Martinez, T. Prentice, M. Palacio 2, A. Ruiz 4, M. Terre
CN Mataro 18 – 6 Tenerife Echeyde (6-3, 5-1, 4-0, 3-2)
Mataro: E. Sanchez, S. Morell, S. Van de Kraats 1, L. Gil Dormua 1, V. Sevenich 5, R. Keszthelyi-Nagy 5, E. Perez, C. Nogue, S. Avegno 4, Q. Bertran 1, R. Gurri, M. Claveria 1, E. Carmona Herrera
Tenerife: F. Maria Perez Paez, M. Sagrera, C. Rios, B. McDowell, E. Dominguez, J. Rodriguez, S. Luis, J. Bennasar, M. Ramos 2, E. Alcon 3, E. Nicholson 1, A. Sanchez
CN Sant Feliu 12 – 15 CN Rubi (2-4, 3-3, 3-3, 4-5)
Sant Feliu: N. Trojan, J. Soler, M. Bargallo 4, A. Temprano, B. Goset, L. Roca Herrera 1, M. Gomez, M. Manchego 1, I. Almeda 5, N. Bartolome, L. Hidalgo 1, J. Figueroa, P. Carrilla
Rubi: E. Jimenez, A. Roldan, C. Penalver 3, C. Abellan, M. Ungria 2, A. Rodriguez, L. Rion, C. Moreno 2, R. Prieto 3, J. Prados 1, E. Vesperinas, A. Trivino 4, M. Sampaio
CD Boadilla 10 – 11 CN Catalunya (3-3, 3-2, 3-4, 1-2)
Boadilla: C. Palacions, A. Wu, L. Roca Alvarez 3, J. Mora, L. Campos, M. Peragon 2, E. Castellanos, M. De Quinta 1, E. Ruano 1, R. Bertran 2, A. Maria, G. Gallinato 1, P. Moreno
Catalunya: M. Terre, C. Ball, C. Diaz 1, O. Tarrino, G. Bellido, B. Pascual 2, R. Schuijt 2, J. Frigola, C. Leonard, S. Diaz 1, M. Van Rijn 5, G. Ribo, H. Perez
CN Atletic Barceloneta 12 – 5 ESC Zaragoza (2-2, 2-2, 3-1, 5-0)
CNAB: A. Farre Colomina, P. Rodriguez, N. Martin 1, C. Buscarons, N. Josifovic, J. Cereijo 2, U. del Sol Agusti 1, N. Mandic 4, I. Piralkova 1, R. Tarrago 3, D. Rodriguez, M. Madre, B. Colominas
Zaragoza: I. Moreno, A. Escolano, M. Ciudad Herrera 2, I. Betran, S. Beltran, N. Coloma, N. Manero 2, A. Rarinena, R. Corao, S. Perez, L. Gomez 1, J. Tazueco, S. Betran
Mataro gave their coach Dani Ballart the perfect 50th birthday present, with a really assured win over Tenerife Echeyde, 18-6. The Maresme were firing on all cylinders up front, with Dutch international Vivian Sevenich and the league’s top scorer Rita Keszthelyi hitting five goals each from their respective areas of operation. The Setterosa’s Silvia Avegno added four scores to her debut season tally in Spain.
With Mataro taking an easy win early in the afternoon, attention turned to the joint-leaders Sabadell, who made sure they didn’t slip up against Mediterrani, as hat-tricks from Bea Ortiz and Elena Ruiz helped David Palma’s reigning champions overcome Medi in a closely fought clash between two of the country’s biggest clubs (11-7). While Sabadell, who are favourites for the Champions League title this season, came into this league game as favourites, they had the tricky task of shaking off Marian Diaz’s plucky Medi side.
The hosts took a 4-0 lead in the opening six minutes via four different scorers; Gonzalez, Perez, Ruiz and Garcia, but Mediterrani stabilised well, lunging themselves back into the duel at the halftime break (6-4). The gap remained at two goals heading into the last (8-6), but two late efforts from Bea Ortiz inside the last two minutes kept the maximum points at Can Llong.
There was also plenty of exciting play in other games across the league.
Terrassa provided something of an upset, taking a 16-15 shootout win over Sant Andreu. They deserved to win in normal time, but they couldn’t hold on in regulation time. After a 10-10 tie after 32 minutes, which dramatically saw Sant Andreu net two scores inside the last minute and a half, the last of which came with just 0:16 on the clock, all eyes turned to how the two teams battling for a play-off place would perform from 5 metres.
Things didn’t look good for Xavi Perez’s team when they missed the first penalty via Fleur Bosveld; it was Andreu who choked, with Noelia Perez and Ariadna Ruiz misfiring, to hand Terrassa a much-needed win as they now trail Sant Andreu by a single point (Andreu 31, Terrassa 30).
There was an equally close game in Madrid, as Catalunya also netted late to take maximum points back to Catalonia against Boadilla (11-10). Gabor Egedi’s team had more quality but was sluggish in its approach to the game. Boadilla had a firm hold on their guests throughout the duration of the match, not allowing them to amass a significant breakaway. However, Boadilla eventually cracked, and Maartje Van Rijn’s fifth and final goal, inside the last forty seconds, ensured Catalunya weren’t stifled by the side situated at the bottom of the league table.
CN Rubi picked up some decent points at Sant Feliu with a 15-12 win against the team directly below them in the standings, courtesy of an impressive team effort, particularly in attack in the second half. Barceloneta picked up their sixth win of the season, spearheaded by a 5-0 blowout in the final quarter. Serbian International Nada Mandic ran riot at centre forward with a quad, while Spanish Olympic medalist veteran Roser Tarrago rolled back the years with a crucial hat-trick.
Next Matchday (25th March)
CE Mediterrani vs CN Mataro
Tenerife Echeyde vs CN Terrassa
CN Catalunya vs Astralpool Sabadell
CN Sant Feliu vs CN Atletic Barceloneta
ESC Zaragoza vs CD Boadilla
CN Rubi vs Sant Andreu
Standings
- Astralpool Sabadell – 18 – 17 wins
- CN Mataro – 18 – 17
- CE Mediterrani – 18 – 14
- CN Sant Andreu – 18 – 13
- CN Terrassa – 18 – 12
- CN Catalunya – 19 – 9
- Tenerife Echeyde – 19 – 9
- Zodiac CNAB – 18 – 6
- CN Rubi – 18 – 5
- CN Sant Feliu – 18 – 4
- CD Boadilla – 18 – 2
- ESC Zaragoza – 18 – 1
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