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Two strong second-place outcomes place Aquinas on top of the leaderboard in the HTC competition.

Women’s Hockey

Hockey is a favourite sport among Aquinians. This year was no exception. 

The process began with trials, where people of all levels and experience came out and became accustomed to this somewhat unique game. There were numerous hurdles for the newcomers, such as learning how to hold a stick, put on shin pads, hit, push, and drag, to name a few. The final squad was selected with a handful of girls who had played before and a whole heap more with bountiful potential ready to be unleashed. 

Little did the Women’s squad anticipate that their abilities would be conditioned through torrential rain, burning sun and hard-fought practice matches against the Men’s squad. This process was supplemented by some whiteboard sessions establishing the rules. 

The big day came around, and it was a cool but sunny … ideal conditions. Energy was high amongst both the Women’s and Men’s squads. The first game was against Flinders, which was a comfortable 5-0 win. The next two games against Lincoln and St Ann’s were also wins, but hard fought. At this point, the team played three back-to-back games with no rest and welcomed a lunch break before the game of the day against St Mark’s College. 

The opening whistle blew, and Aquinas came out hard, having most of the attacking play. Unfortunately, fatigue got the better of them, and St. Mark’s had a few strategic turnovers resulting in goals. It was a hard-fought game that Aquinas was unfortunate to concede. 

Given that most of the team had never played before, the coaches could not have been prouder of the second-place finish. A night of beer and dancing lay ahead for the well-deserving squad. 

Men’s Hockey

After intense training, spirits were high on the 1 June, as the Men’s team rolled out to the hockey pitch.

The day started with a bang against Flinders as Cooper scored 2 phenomenal goals. Game 2 was intense with St Ann’s scoring an early goal. We fought back hard with Luke getting a goal in the second half leading to a 1-1 draw. The men were tested in Game 3 of the day, coming up against a well coached and highly skilled Lincoln. It was a nailbiter of a game with Lincoln scoring an early goal leaving us on the chase. Lincoln achieved a penalty stroke in the second half however we did not need to worry as our saviour Jono kept us in it with an unheard of and truly remarkable diving head but save. Our BOG for the day Cooper then flicked a 30m overhead into the circle and in spectacular fashion Tom put the ball into the back of the net with 2 minutes to go, landing us with a 1-1 draw.

The last game of the day was against St Mark’s. It was a tough game, we had the majority of possession and were running rings around them. The men were tired after a long day and we just couldn’t slip one past the keeper, resulting in a 0-0 draw.

Well done to both the Women’s and Men’s Teams for playing so well and leaving everything out there