The 2022/23 season was an extremely tightly fought contest in the women’s league. It saw big wins and close games but the results were always unpredictable.
After 18 games we had only two points separating 1st and 4th. This was evident come finals when two out of four of the finals games were decided with a penalty shoot-out.
1 v 4 Raptors vs Wolves was the first of the finals games. It was an even game across the board as both teams went goal for goal. Raptors saw goals from Tank, Rijsenbrij, and Curcio while the Wolves scorers were Sargeant, Borrett, and Kenyon. 1-1 after the first period, 2-2 after the second, and 3-3 after the third. The game was eventually decided by a solitary goal by Kenyon for the Wolves as the only goal in the penalty shoot-out.
The second final of 2 v 3 was fought between the Foxes and Dragons. This game started as a tightly contested game. 0-0 after the first, before Mutton broke the drought with a goal for Foxes in the second. Stokes put the icing on the cake in the third with a second Foxes goal, culminating in a 2-0 victory and a shut-out in goals for Throop.
The grand final saw the Wolves take the early lead over the Foxes, with goals to Bradley, Hancock and Kenyon. Things were looking dire for the Foxes with only a single goal to Thompson. With two minutes to go, the Foxes did not give up. Goals to Chong and Thompson within 30 seconds of each other saw the Foxes fight back in the dying minutes to tie the game.
Another tightly fought penalty shootout with goalies Throop and Buschman denying player after player goals in the shootout. Finally a breakthrough by the Foxes Angie Stokes was the difference in the game to give the Foxes the championship.