Five teams played their final game in the regular season of the women’s Eredivisie in the Netherlands. All eight teams still make the championship play-offs, but ranking, as ever, is key.
De Zaan finished their first phase of the season with a strong 22-8 win over UZSC, but they will likely fall into second after GZC Donk play, and presumably win their two games in hand.
However, Donk have scheduled their two remaining games against De Ham and Ravijn for this week, and if those games are played then, they might not be able to rely on the services of Maartje Keuning, Brigitte Sleeking and Marit Van der Weijden, who will all be training with the Dutch national team ahead of the World Cup.
Reminder: Netherlands women’s league format In the Women’s Eredivisie, there are eight teams. All eight teams will make it to the Play-Offs, which is a special tournament. In the Play-Offs, the teams will play in quarter-finals. This means that the team ranked first will play against the team ranked eighth, the team ranked second will play against the team ranked seventh, the team ranked third will play against the team ranked sixth, and the team ranked fourth will play against the team ranked fifth. The quarter-finals will be played in a best-of-three format.
On the subject of teams with games in hand, Polar Bears played twice this weekend, racking up six important points, firstly with a crazy comeback against PSV (8-11) on Saturday, and then a more routine victory over UZSC (12-6) on the sunday.
In the end it proved futile, but ZVL will take confidence heading into the play-offs after defeating Het Ravijn 13-9. Ravijn sit in 5th on 17 points, with ZVL trailing in 6th on 16 points, having played a game extra.
2022/23 Women’s Dutch League, Day 14
Saturday 1st April
ZVL-1886 13- 9 Het Ravijn (3-1, 3-3, 3-3, 4-2)
ZVL:J. Oosting, D. Kammerman, L. Roels 3, R. de Kleer 4, L. Verhagen, N. Zwiers 3, D. Gras 1, A. Pauli, L. Terpstra, M. Voorvelt 1, T. van der Meer, J. Joor 1, C. van Leeuwen
Het Ravijn:D. Logtens, N. de Vries 2, S. de Vries, N. Scholten, L. Beunk 2, I. Vreeling 2, P. Gorter 1, M. Reinders, D. Scholten 1, M. ter Schure 1, F. Strampel, A. Lleinlugtebeld
UZSC 8 – 22 ZV De Zaan (3-6, 1-5, 1-7, 3-4)
UZSC: M. Saloua, S. Jutte, K. van der Veen 1, S. Bijkerk 3, H. Hogervorst, A. van Rossum, I. Keijzer 2, K. Haksteen, N. Drewes, M. Borst, L. van Wingerden, A. Klein Langenhorst
De Zaan: E. Alander, L. Rogge 6, A. Plugge, M. Schaap 4, T. Sam, E. Roijen 2, S. Vleeshakker 1, M. Koopman 4, D. Sap 1, L. Happe, M. van Tol, B. Rogge 3, B. Van den Dobbelsteen
PSV 8 – 11 Polar Bears (3-0, 0-2, 4-5, 1-4).
PSV: S. Kimenai, A. van Rooijen 1, V. van der Beek 1, S. Eveleens, M. Rietveld, T. Kimenai 1, G. Khalandi 3, N. van der Beek 1, F. Bouwmeister, E. Bekkers, E. Aldenzee 1, A. Schouten
Polar Bears: L. van Holland, L. Moolhuijzen 2, J. Oort 1, A. de Koeijer, N. van de Geijn, S. Willemsen 2, L. Schinkel 3, A. Roekevisch 1, F. Voordouw 2, T. van der Elst, F. Ingels, F. Broere
Sunday, 2nd April
Polar Bears 12 – 6 UZSC (3-2, 3-3, 4-1, 2-0)
Polar Bears: L. van Holland, L. Moolhuijzen 3, J. Oort 2, A. de Koeijer, N. van de Geijn 1, S. Willemsen 1, L. Schinkel 4, A. Roekevisch 2, F. Voordouw 1, T. van der Elst, F. Ingels, F. Broere
UZSC: M. Saloua 1, S. Jutte, K. van der Veen, S. Bijkerk 1, H. Hogervorst 2, A. van Rossum 1, I. Keijzer, K. Haksteen, N. Drewes, M. Borst, L. van Wingerden 1, A. Klein Langenhorst
De Zaan currently sits atop the league standings, having thumped UZSC 22-8 on Saturday evening.
The team from Zaandam was led by the impressive performance of Lieke Rogge, who tallied an impressive six goals on the night. Rogge’s showing was particularly noteworthy, as she will soon make her national team debut at the World Cup in Rotterdam. Maud Koopman also chipped in with a hat-trick of goals, helping De Zaan establish an 11-4 halftime lead. The second half saw De Zaan extend their lead, with Bente Rogge, Maud Koopman (2), and Lieke Rogge (2) all finding the back of the net. Though the final eight minutes were competitive, the outcome of the game had already been determined.
While the other two games played on Saturday had no impact on the league standings, they were still noteworthy for the performances they produced.
In the first game, Polar Bears came from behind to defeat PSV 11-8, after initially trailing 3-0. The Eindhoven Reds got off to a strong start, with Gazizah Khalandi, Annelot van Rooijen, and Tessa Kimenai all contributing goals. However, Polar Bears mounted a comeback in the second period, and despite still being behind at halftime, they managed to level the score with eight minutes to play. The last quarter was all about Polar Bears, as they scored four unanswered goals to secure the victory. The win was particularly important for Polar Bears, as defeat to the league’s bottom team would have been catastrophic heading into the playoffs.
In the second game, ZVL produced an excellent performance to beat Het Ravijn 13-9, despite knowing they couldn’t catch them in the league standings. Renee De Kleer (4 goals) and Laura Roels (3 goals) were the standout performers for ZVL, who got off to a quick start and never looked back. Iefke van Belkum’s team led 2-0 at the halfway stage of the first quarter, and soon extended their advantage to 4-1. Het Ravijn fought back, but were unable to bridge the gap completely, with ZVL securing their fifth win of the season. Though Het Ravijn managed to bring the score within one goal in the third quarter, ZVL’s quick-fire goals at the end of the third and start of the fourth quarters sealed the deal. Laura Roels completed her impressive showing with a brace in the final quarter, capping off a positive afternoon for the team from Leiden.
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