The Auckland Steel hung on for their three-peat after beating the Canterbury Inferno 2-1 in the New Zealand women’s ice hockey league final in Dunedin last night.
It was the third consecutive title for the Steel, who have been the in-form team this season.
They wrapped up the regular season as top seeds, finishing the regular season with seven wins for 23 points.
Auckland went up 2-0 early, but Canterbury fought back and pressed the Steel hard throughout the game.
Anjali Mulari — who stood out for the Ice Fernz in Dunedin earlier this year — grabbed a rebounded shot and buried it to score the opener for the Steel in the first period.
Hope Gregory doubled the score just before the break for the Steel to lead 2-0 at the end of the first period.
Canterbury’s Megan Matthews made a clean break and slapped her backhand shot into the net to get the Inferno on the board in the second period.
They fought hard and created more shots during the second and trailed 2-1 at the break.
In Saturday’s semifinals, Wakatipu — who wrapped up the regular season as second seed — fell short 5-4 against Canterbury. It was a crazy third period where both teams traded three goals back and forward.
The Thunder pushed Auckland all the way in their semifinal, but the defending champions secured a 4-2 win.
Wakatipu returned with vengeance and pumped the Thunder 8-0 in the third and fourth playoff yesterday afternoon.
