19 December,2019 07:51 AM IST | Mumbai | Gordon D'costa
St Stanislaus boys are ecstatic after winning the U-14 hockey title
St Stanislaus (Bandra) regained their pride and title as they beat arch-rivals Don Bosco (Matunga) 3-0 via the tie-breaker in the MSSA boys U-14 inter-school hockey final at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) ground, Kandivli, on Wednesday.
In a tense and exciting final, both teams adopted an attacking approach and tried hard to score but all four quarters ended goalless, taking the game into the shootout.
Stanislaus goalkeeper Adrian Braganza saved the day for the Bandra lads as he foiled the first three Don Bosco attempts from Gavin Rao, Elron Mohan and Harshal Pednekar. Adrian's teammates Cristiano Corriea, Shaun D'Mello and Jayden Pereira all successfully converted their attempts to ensure the Bandra boys emerged
champions.
Earlier, St Teresa Convent (Santacruz) clinched top honours among the U-14 girls, beating Carmel of St Joseph (Malad) 1-0 in the summit clash.
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With both teams locked in a tough tussle for supremacy, there was not much to separate one side from the other. However, St Teresa's star forward Hetal Goswami, 13, who has accumulated 33 goals in five matches, once again played a significant role, scoring the match-winner in the third quarter. Centre half Vilona Rodrigues found Hetal in the clear with a long hit. Hetal trapped the ball and dodged past two defenders before drawing the rival goalkeeper out and weaving past her to slot into an empty net. "It feels great to help my team emerge champions. I'm happy to have scored 33 goals (20 in the match against Rustomjee International) too. I never expected to score so many," Hetal told mid-day.
However, she's not too excited about heading into the holiday season. "I will not be enjoying the festive season because I have to shift focus to my studies as we have our exams soon after the Christmas vacation," she added.
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