Hockey: Huanui College continue dominance with win at mixed tournament

Huanui College's Ethan Codlin was an important facet of their First XI's North Island Mixed Hockey Tournament-winning side. Photo / Michelle Codin

The Huanui College First XI hockey team continued their dominance at the North Island Mixed Hockey Tournament as they clinched a hat-trick of titles.

Coached by Richard Storey, the side continued their golden run in the tournament which pits the best mixed high schools in the North Island against each other.

The tournament featured other Northland schools Rodney College, Kerikeri High School, Pompallier Catholic College and Bream Bay College.

In only their fifth tilt at the title, Huanui set the tone early with a 13-0 thrashing of Whanganui City College with eight players getting their name on the score sheet.

The team welcomed in nine new players in 2017 which shows the strength of the hockey programme.

They defeated Kerikeri 2-0 in pool play and had a 2-2 draw with Rotorua Lakes High School, which was good enough to finish top in their pool.

In the quarter-finals they were dominant in their 4-0 win over Pompallier. Bream Bay were outclassed in their quarter-final, losing 5-0 to Lytton High School.

Huanui booked their spot in the final with a 3-0 win over Lytton High School, booking them a meeting with Te Aroha College.

Pompallier beat Bream Bay 4-2 in their semifinal for places five to eight.

Huanui clinched the title with a 5-2 win over the Waikato school, completing an undefeated tournament. Aaron Greenhalgh was the star of the show with a hat-trick while Luka Clark and Liam Mortimer also found the back of the net.

Pompallier ended the tournament in sixth with Bream Bay eighth, Kerikeri ninth and Rodney 12th.

Huanui's MVP was Greenhalgh who, along with Ethan Codlin, were the team's top goal-scorers for the week with six apiece. Rodney's Jarod Tantrum was the leading scorer in the tournament with nine, while Nui Meuli Hemara from Pompallier had six.

Huanui College scored 29 goals through the week, only conceding four. The tournament victory continued their trend of five podium finishes from five.