The women of Mannheimer HC are German champions in field hockey for the first time. On Sunday (June 4th, 2023), the MHC won the final on its own facility 4:3 after a penalty shoot-out against the Alster club. For men, Rot-Weiss Köln prevailed against Mannheim and screwed up the MHC doubles title.
Spaniard Lucia Jiménez scored the winning goal as the tenth shooter. When it was 1-1 (1-0) in regular time, Katharina Haid (51st minute) scored the late equalizer with Alster’s seventh penalty corner.
Mannheim took the lead at the end of the first half through Carolin Seidel’s (28th) penalty corner goal. Viktoria Huse’s (57th) corner goal to the supposed 2-1 for Hamburg had been withdrawn after video evidence of dangerous play. The MHC ended the season without a defeat and secured the long-awaited title in the third final in a row after two lost shootouts.
Cologne men celebrate too
The men’s team, on the other hand, missed the double championship title for Mannheim by a hair’s breadth. Despite being 2-1 at break, the hosts lost 2-3 to Rot-Weiss Köln. While the Cologne team celebrated their third title in a row, the MHC missed out on being only the second club in DM history to win the double with titles for women and men in the same year. Furthermore, this was only achieved in 1989 by the SC 80 Frankfurt.
Dutchman Mink van der Weerden scored the winner with a penalty corner in the 49th minute. For Cologne it is the eleventh title overall. “The best feeling you can have is winning a title with your very best friends”, said two-time goalscorer Christopher Ruhr. The world champion had scored the lead in front of 2,300 spectators (8th) before his Mannheim national team colleagues Teo Hinrichs (22nd) and Justus Weigand (18th) turned the game in favor of the hosts. Stir (45th) then equalized with a seven-meter penalty to make it 2-2.
“With the first at the far post, I have the right to put it in and I don’t feel any nerves with the seven-metre throw.”, added the goalscorer. It was the last game in the red and white jersey for Belgium national keeper Vincent Vanasch, van der Weerden, Florian Pelzner and world champion Moritz Trompertz. “I’ll miss being on the pitch with them four times a week. That’s why the third title is outstanding.”said Stir.
Harvestehuder THC also qualified for the Euro Hockey League
In addition to the two finalists, the Harvestehuder THC won 3:2 (2:2) over the Hamburg local rivals Uhlenhorster HC in the match for third place for the Euro Hockey League qualified.