The California Bears won the NCAA title, while the team named after one of the strongest animals had a successful weekend in Europe, too.
Polar Bears are the winners of the weekend in the Dutch League. The team from the city of Ede recorded two wins in derby games in two days. On Saturday, Polar Bears beat ZPB H&L Productions. A day after, the Bears defeated the league leader AZC.
Before these two matches, Polar Bears were in 3rd place, behind AZC and ZPB H&L Productions. After two back-to-back wins, the Ede-based club share 1st and 2nd place with AZC.
2022/23 Dutch League, Day 8
Polar Bears – ZPB H&L Productions 10:6 (2:1, 1:3, 4:1, 3:1).
Polar Bears: Ten Broek 4,Kunz 2, Snel 2, De Kater 1, Cavalje 1.
ZPB: Kuller 2, Van Niekerk 1, Dentro 1, Van den Burg 1.
ZV De Zaan – AZC 9:10 (3:1, 1:5, 3:1, 2:3).
ZV De Zaan: Meijn 3, Jansen 3, Corver 1, Mandolini 1, Lucas 1.
AZC: Nispeling 4, Filipovic 3, Van den Heuvel 1, Reuten 1, De Zwaan 1.
PSV – Het Ravijn 9:12 (2:3, 2:3, 2:2, 3:4)
PSV: Pijnenburg 4, Van den Hout 2, Kort 1, Evers 1, Swinkels 1.
Het Ravijn: Loos 4, Ter Brake 2, Muller 2, E. Wouters 2, H. Wouters 1, Hageman 1.
UZSC – ZVL-1886 Center 13:5 (5:0, 5:2, 3:2, 0:1).
UZSC: Willemsen 3, De Jong 3, Kastrop 3, Taylor 2, Cvanciger 1,Athymaritis 1.
ZVL-1886:Brancatello 2, Van Ruiten 1,Spijker 1,Reijchard 1.
ZPC Amersfoort – De Ham 19:6 (5:1, 3:1, 7:3, 4:1).
ZPC Amersfoort: Van der Werve 4, Slaghuis 4, Palotas 4, Muller 3, Nijhof 1, Van Mil 1, Borcsok 1, Hanselaar 1.
De Ham: Groenendijk 3, F.Vant Veer 1, Bons 1, R. vant Veer 1.
De Linge/PCG – GZC Donk 6:20 (3:4, 2:6, 0:5, 1:5).
De Linge/PCG: Visser 3, Noorduyn 2, Visser 1.
GZC Donk: Van der Weijden 5,Van Yperen 3, Westerwoudt 3, Veenhuis 2, Schouwerwou 2, Winkelhorst 2, Sjardijn 1, Van der Weijden 1, Westerveld 1.
RESCHEDULED MATCH
Polar Bears – AZC 15:11 (6:3, 3:3, 3:2, 3:3).
Polar Bears: Kunz 5, Van der Horst 4, Ten Broek 2, Scherrenburg 1, Wolswinkel 1, Roels 1, Wijgers 1.
AZC: Nispeling 5, Reuten 2,Filipovic 2, Lindhout 1, Van den Heuvel 1.
On Saturday, Polar Bears defeated ZPB H&L Productions 10:6. The visitors were ahead at halftime (4:3). Still, the home side took control after the middle break and entered the final period leading 7:5. It was a game with a lot of exclusions. The visitors committed more personal fouls than Polar Bears, so their coach couldn’t count on some of its best players at the finish of the game, and that was one of the reasons why ZPB H&L didn’t come back. Polar Bears deserved a 10:6 victory, with four goals from experienced Lars ten Broek.
AZC played an away match against ZV De Zaan on Saturday. AZC started badly. It trailed 1:4 at the beginning of the second quarter. Still, the visitors erased the deficit with three quick goals. They had a 6:4 advantage at halftime. The sides were tied at 7:7 before the final eight minutes. Early in the fourth period, Lucas put ZV De Zaan in front again (8:7), but the visitors from Alphen replied with three goals and took a 10:8 lead. The home team halved the deficit but didn’t equalize.
After successfully doing jobs on Saturday, Polar Bears and AZC met in Ede on Sunday. The hosts got off to an excellent start and led had a 6:3 advantage at the first break. They were always in front. In the third period, AZC narrowed the gap to one goal (8:9), but Polar Bears regained a 3-goal advantage immediately. In the end, the hosts recorded a 15:11 victory.
Polar Bears and AZC have played nine matches each, and they are tied atop the table with 22 points.
GZC Donk and ZPB H&L Productions have won 16 points each. But both teams have played seven games so far – two less than the leading duo. So, there is no difference between the top four teams. All four lost the same number of points.
GZC Donk didn’t have a demanding task in the eighth round and beat De Linge/PCG 20:6. Interestingly, Donk’s goalkeeper Westerveld got on the scoresheet. He found the net in the last second of the match.
Fifth-placed UZSC cruised to a win over ZVL-1886 Center (13:5).
Title-holder Het Ravijn recorded its third victory in the season, beating PSV 12:9.
ZPC Amersfoort started moving from the bottom of the table, defeating De Ham convincingly (19:6).
1. AZC 9 – 22
2. Polar Bears 9 – 22
3. GZC Donk 7 – 16
4. ZPB H&L Productions 7 – 16
5. UZSC 8 – 16
6. ZV De Zaan 7 – 15
7. ZVL-1886 Center 8 – 12
8. Het Ravijn 7 – 9
9. ZPC Amersfoort 9 – 7
10. PSV 8 – 3
11 .De Ham 9 – 3
12. De Linge/PCG 8 – 0
