After a string of three wins on the trot, the NWU men’s Varsity Hockey team are in high spirits ahead of their first Varsity Hockey semi-final against the undefeated Maties today (Monday, 14 May).

The NWU side brushed aside UCT 4-0 in a winner takes all clash on Sunday, 13 May with goals from Mitesh Makan and Killian Ludick sealing a semi-final spot.  The boys in purple will now look to defeat Maties and book their spot in next weekend’s final.

In the previous encounter in the pool stages, Maties narrowly stole a win against the NWU with 6-5 when they had been trailing for most of the match. The NWU will now know from experience that they can score against Maties and will look to put their defensive structures in place to counter the Stellenbosch juggernaut.

The NWU are definitely the underdogs going into this match, but this may just suit them to a tee as they have absolutely nothing to lose. Sheldon Rostron’s men have played some attractive and energetic hockey with most of their matches going down to the wire.

Pierre Botma, Killian Ludick, Gertjie Lamprecht and Sinoxolo Mbekeni have all had an outstanding tournament and they will once again look to inspire their team against Maties.

Maties’ firepower, comes from Reece Arendse, Maximillian Pike and Dayne Samboer and their keeper, Rob McKinley will be hard to beat.  Expect a game full of goals and nail biting action in this massive first semi-final.

The match will start at 17:00 and is live on Supersport 10.

Photos: Christiaan Kotze/SASPA.