Donk down De Zaan – Women’s Eredivisie

February 20, 2023

Lois Den Ouden of De Zaan. Photo: Hanny van den Dobbelsteen.

There were some really close duels in matchday 9 of the Dutch Eredivisie this weekend, with three exciting games taking place on Saturday.

GZC Donk are the clear favorites to head into the play-offs ranked top after a hard-earned victory over Zaan this weekend. Four goals from Isabella van Toorn helped the league leaders down De Zaan 13-11.

Elsewhere, Het Ravijn bottled a great chance to take a victory over Polar Bears, throwing away a three goal lead in the last quarter. In a thrilling 9-9 tie, Het Ravijn still earned a point, but they needed three to make up ground on UZSC – who, like PSV, didn’t play this weekend.

And lastly, ZVL 1886 held off De Ham to secure a vital but unconvincing away victory. Eight different scorers helped Lefke van Belkum’s team earn a third win of the season.

ZV De Zaan 11 – 13 GZC Donk (3-5, 1-4, 3-0, 4-4)

De Zaan: E. Alander, L. Rogge 3, L. den Ouden 1, M. Schaap 3 , T. Sam, E. Roijen 1, S. Vleeshakker, M. Koopman, D. Sap 2, K. Joustra, A. Plugge, B. Rogge 1, B. Van den Dobbelsteen

Donk: S. Keijzer, M. van der Weijden 2, B. Sleeking 2, A. Vermeulen, I. van Toorn 4, G. van Dijk, M. Keuning 3, S. Vos 2, I. Snoeij, S. Bergsma, V. ter Borg, E. Volkers

GZC Donk continue to dominate the Dutch Eredivisie, seeing off title rivals 13-11 in an exciting game in Zaandam.

Ingrid Veenhuis-Scholten’s league leading team secured an important three points against arguably their biggest rivals for the title this season.

A hat-trick from Isabella van Toorn rappled Donk out ahead in the first quarter. Having trailed 2-1, Donk led 5-3.

Halfway through the game, GZC Donk were in the ascendency, with two scores from Maarte Keuning, Brigitte Sleeking, and Saskia Vos really stamping Donk’s authority on the game. A tenacious ZV De Zaan, though, fought back in the third period, narrowing the score to 7-9.

However, the experienced players of GZC Donk, Marit van der Weijden and Maartje Keuning, kept their cool and managed to widen the lead to a comfortable 7-11 with only six minutes left on the clock. Late scores from Maxine Schapp provided Zaan nothing more than a Pyrrhic victory.

GZC Donk are unbeaten in all Eredivisie contests this season. Zaan are still level on points with Donk, but Donk hold two games in hand.

Het Ravijn 9 – 9 Polar Bears (5-2, 2-2, 2-2, 0-3)

ZPC: D. Logtens, N. De Vries 2, S. de Vries, N. Scholten 2, L. Beunk, I. Vreeling, P. Gorter 2, D. Scholten 1, M. Reinders, M. ter Shure 1, N. Willemsen, F. Strampel, R. Boxsem

Polar Bears: L. van Holland, L. Moolhuijzen 3, J. Oort 1, A. de Keijer, N. van de Geijn 1, S. Willemsen 1, L. Schinkel 1, S. Slot 2, A. Roekevisch, F. Voordouw 2, T. van der Elst, F. Ingels, F. Broere

An impressive last quarter display from the Polar Bears rescued them a point away to Het Ravijn in a close 9-9 draw.

In the last quarter, two scores in under a minute from Dutch junior international Silvanne Slot pulled Koen de Weerd’s team back within a score, having trailed by three goals. Nina van de Geijn’s equalising strike at the midway point of the last eventually proved to be the game’s last action.

Ravijn will undoubtedly be frustrated with not taking maximum points after being on top for the majority of the game. ZPC had taken an early lead, with Noa De Vries of the senior national team netting a crucial goal just before the end of the first quarter.

The hosts continued to dominate in the second quarter, with Lola Moolhuijzen and Nina Scholten finding the back of the net to secure a commanding 7-3 lead. Despite the Polar Bears’ efforts to narrow the gap in the third quarter, they still found themselves trailing by three goals heading into the final eight minutes of the game.

Goals from Silvanne Slot (2) and Nina van de Geijn in the game’s final eight minutes helped the Ede visitors come back from a 9-6 deficit and rescue a late point on the road.

De Ham 8 – 9 ZVL Center (1-3, 2-1, 3-4, 2-1)

De Ham: A. Collas, R. Damianos, L. Rozeboom 4, E. van Rossum, A. Rozemeijer 2, M. Hekhuis, R. Steur 1, R. Stam, R. van t Veer, M. Schipper 1, L. van Trotsenburg 1, A. van der Horst

ZVL: J. Oosting, D. Kammerman, L. Roels 1, R. de Kleer 1, M. Voorvelt 1, N. Zwiers 1, D. Gras 1, K. Schuijt, L. Terpstra 2, N. van Veen, T. van der Meer 1, J. Joor 1,

ZVL just about got over the line against De Ham with a 9-8 victory, but it was anything but straight forward.

It was a tough match for ZVL-1886 Center as they faced off against 7th placed De Ham, a team that put up a surprisingly strong fight.

At first, it seemed like the visitors from Leiden had the game under control, stepping out to a 2-0 lead inside the first ninety seconds, which culminated in a 3-1 lead after eight minutes, which was slashed in the second period down to a single goal (4-3).

ZVL turned up the heat though, and added scores. Zwiers and Terpstra added two consecutive scores, and while they lead by two goals heading into the back end of the game, the game was far from over; Lizette Rozeboom led De Ham’s charge with three straight goals, narrowing the score and putting pressure on ZVL-1886 Center.

The visitors held on, though, and Danique Gras scored a crucial goal early in the last to put ZVL with a decent cushion once again (6-9). In the end, the team of Lefke van Belkum secured a hard-fought victory and returned to Sleutelstad with three valuable points in their pocket.