CARDINIA Life in Pakenham became an international sport arena on the weekend with the staging of the Women’s World Floorball Championship qualification tournament.
Teams from Australia, Japan, New Zealand and Singapore battled it out for the right to qualify for the WFC Final Round in Tampere, Finland.
Only one team would miss out on qualification after the three-day event, with New Zealand missing out after a tough weekend at the office.
Australian players Freya Carson, Kayleigh Tribe and Ashleigh Bourke, team manager Kim Daine and trainer Paul Hogg were all local participants as the Aussies won their second game against the Kiwis to qualify for the exciting next stage.
Both teams come into the game looking for their first win of the tournament.
Australia began well with Fiona de Courcier scoring first before Jess Roser scored her first international goal assisted by Lauren Hogan to put the home side up 2-0. Bourke then set up Melanie Cathie for the Australians’ third goal to give the Aussies a 3-0 lead at the end of the first period.
Tara Keogh then scored twice to give the hosts a 5-0 advantage before Phoebe Hamilton, Charlotte Quaife and Nicole Sanford all scored to make it an 8-0 victory at the final buzzer.
The Australians had earlier lost tight contests to Japan (7-5) and Singapore (8-3) to end the tournament in third position with one win and two losses.
