Women’s Championnat: Narrow victory for league leaders

February 20, 2023

Veronika Kordonskaia of Lille. Photo: WP Inside

There wasn’t much drama on matchday 8 of the women’s Championnat, but there were two games; one of which was close, and one of which was not.

Lille are still the team to beat in France, with the reigning champions taking a narrow victory away at Mulhouse. In the only other game played over the weekend, Nice bested Nancy 12-6, in a game that saw eight 5m penalties, four of which were missed.

Lille are top of the league, and unbeaten in all of their league games. Nice are level on points, but are likely to find themselves six points adrift after Lille play their two games in hand.

INSEP did the double over Switzerland, winning 16-7 and 18-6 in their double-header.

Mulhouse WP 8 – 9 LUC Metropole (1-1, 2-3, 3-4, 2-1)

Mulhouse: L. Mancebo, M. Le Roux 2, L. Hariss, L. Forgacs, L. Guillet 2, L. Jean Michel 1, K. Mihaly, C. Sanglard, A. Van Dyke 1, V. Kretzmann-Bahia, M. Durand, A. Daule, R. Edgerton

Lille: M. Rycraw, M. Ouchache, G. Fitaire, E. Hardy 2, G. Deike 2, V. Kordonskaia 1, E. Bovali, O. Hertzka 2, M. O’Reilly 2, A. Kochetova

Lille remains at the summit of the French Championnat, but they were pushed extremely far by Mulhouse in a 9-8 victory for the reigning champions.

In a re-run of the French Cup final played last month, Lille took the win once more, but this time, the scoreline was a lot narrower.

Lille’s deadly attacker unit though found the goals they needed, with Erica Hardy, Gesa Deike, Orsolya Hertzka and Maddie O’Reilly all scoring twice.

We had to wait practically the full length of the first quarter before either defence was breached. However, Mulhouse weren’t behind for long when Hertzka opened the scoring for Lille with 0:47 on the clock, as French International, Audrey Daule, squared things up moments before the buzzer (1-1).

Once again, there was no early action of note in the second period, but Lille did find themselves with a wafer-thin lead at half-time. A Gesa Deike strike, sandwiched between two scores from former Michigan Wolverine, Maddie O’Reilly, put the visitors 4-3 up.

Mulhouse stayed in the contest though, and found some some holes in the Lille defence. Lou Jean Michel, Morgane Le Roux and Vivian Kretzmann-Bahia all made their efforts count, but they couldn’t eat into Lille’s lead. Some cool finishing from Anestis Pesmatzoglou’s team afforded them a two-goal buffer heading into the final leg of the game (8-6).

And the advantage they had built for themselves pay dividends by the end of the match. France’s captain, Louise Guillet converted from the spot for Mulhouse, but Erica Hardy responded immediately for the visitors. Adrien Van Dyke’s conversion pulled Mulhouse back within one, but Lille held on to take maximum points.

Grand Nancy 6 – 12 Olympic Nice (1-2, 1-3, 3-4, 1-3)

Nancy: M. Chabrier, L. Lottero, B. Van de Velde 2, J. Kohli 2, K. Noy, A. Grass, M. Barbieux 1, V. Tamas 2, S. Amcher 2, E. Cugnart, Y. Deschampt 1, I. Di Bartolo 2, C. Gaal,

Nice: L. Counil, C. Mari, A. Sabouriaut, E. Carel C. Hanzo 1, M. Betard, P. Vizcarra 1, S. Pacheco Herce 3, L. Bachelier 1, L. Fanara, K. Benlekbir, A. Gabriele, C. Melik

Nice earned a healthy victory away at Nancy, outscoring their opponents 12-6.

Five Nice players earned double ticks next to their name on the scoresheet in a well-balanced display from Elie Carreau’s team. However, a strong defensive showing, particularly against Nancy’s extra-player situations, was a crucial factor in their success.

The game was rather unusual in one respect. There were eight penalties in the game – four for each team. Nice, despite winning, only converted one, while Nancy converted three.

The first quarter was primarily focused around the 5m line. Nancy gave away two penalties, only one of which was converted (Van der Velde). Nancy received a penalty-throw themselves, which Sandra Pacheco slotted home with aplomb (2-1).

Nice opened up a three-goal lead in the third quarter, making their control in the game pay. It would have perhaps been a four-goal lead, but for yet another missed penalty for Nice. Blom Van de Velde, Nice’s top-goal scorer in the league this season, added a late score in the half that really knocked the confidence of the hosts (5-2).

Before long, it was six for Nice, with Italian Ilaria Di Bartolo converting her 6 on 5 well. Nice allowed Nancy back into the game with two more penalties. Sandra Pacheco stepped up twice, and completed her hat-trick (5-8). Nice though added another late score to open a four goal lead to present Nancy with an extremely difficult task in the last quarter.

Paola Vizcarra gave Nancy hope with a goal in the first attack of the final quarter. But a quick suckerpunch from Nice, with two goals in two attacks ended any hope of a nancy comeback (11-6). Nice missed another penalty in the last quarter, but Ilaria Di Bartolo’s second goal of the game ended proceedings.