Hockey India League: Soorma HC beat Kalinga Lancers 4-3 in what will likely go down as match of the tournament | Hockey News

If there is a better match in the men’s Hockey India League this season, the tournament would be a blockbuster, because Soorma Hockey Club’s 4-3 win against home side Vedanta Kalinga Lancers would be hard to beat.
In a match that ebbed and flowed at the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela on Sunday, Lancers would be left wondering how they let slip another match from their grasp after playing enthralling attacking hockey.
At the half-time show on the official broadcast, PR Sreejesh was in the studio and wasted no time in answering the question: which goalkeeper had impressed him the most so far? In a match where seven goals were scored and numerous other chances created, the player of the match was the wily old Belgian custodian Vincent Vanasch.
For Soorma, Jeremy Hayward (11th minute), Nicolas della Torre (35`), Harmanpreet Singh (50`) and Harish Somappa (52`) were on target. For Lancers, who started the match on fire, Thierry Brinkman (5`) opened the scoring. Sanjay (30`) and Gursahibjit Singh (50`) were the other scorers but the home side was left ruing numerous missed chances, thwarted repeatedly the 37-year-old Vanasch.
Both teams sprung some fascinating surprises in the first half as Sreejesh observed in his mid-match analysis. Harmanpreet knows Lancers goalkeeper Pathak inside out, so their opening goal came when they went to Jeremy Hayward in the 2nd battery. For their second goal, it was Della Torre in the first battery, with Harman in the second and it ended up being a double bluff. The push went to Della Torre who smashed one into the roof of the net as Pathak was lined up on the right for Harman this time. In between those two tactical switches, Lancers too played a trick. Their main weapon is the lethal Alexander Hendrickx but Soorma had his international teammate Vanasch, so they opted to bluff going to Sanjay, who scored their second goal.
At the start of the final quarter, the score was 2-2 but the Lancers’ attacking dominance was reflected in the stat that the circle penetrations stood at 24 for them while Soorma had only 10. It was a measure of the pressure Harmanpreet’s side was under with Vanasch making a flurry of saves – the standout perhaps the one he reacted quickly to when Nicholas Bandurak fired in a clever shot with his back to goal.
Then came the decisive three minutes in the match, starting with a moment the league had been waiting for. With 10 minutes to go, Harmanpreet finally got on the scoresheet. He was on the second battery again but this time he took the shot on goal. Despite the first rusher reading it, he beat him with the angle and then got the ball past Pathak with sheer power. A pumped-up Harman celebrated with his team’s signature thigh-five.
A packed stadium erupted shortly afterward as Gursahibjit Singh drew Lancers level in the next minute. Antoine Kina set him up for a tap-in with superb stick-work down the left flank to draw Vanasch out of position. A minute later, Soorma retook the lead in what was a mirror image of the goal down the other end. It was Phil Roper with a great dribble down the right and he set up Harish for a diving deflection.
It was like a basketball match at this point. Soorma somehow contrived not to score their fifth. First, Roper’s superb reverse hit from the edge of the circle was saved brilliantly Pathak diving to the right. Then Gurjant and Roper hit the crossbar and post in quick succession.
In the 58th minute, it was Hendrickx vs Vanasch once more as Lancers won a penalty stroke with a chance to level the match. But Vanasch saved what was a weak effort Hendrickx’s standards.

The second match of the day didn’t feature as many goals or chances, but it was equally intriguing as Tamil Nadu Dragons produced a strong tactical defensive display to win 2-0 and hand UP Rudras their first defeat. Rudras captain Hardik Singh was effectively marked in the midfield and Dragons scored two goals in the final quarter – Abharan Sudev (48′) and Thomas Sors (60′) – to move into third place.

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