Incheon’s Sangok Namjung pulled off a dramatic come-from-behind victory in its first hockey preliminary round match at the 52nd National Youth Sports Games.
In a preliminary hockey match at the Sunrise International Hockey Stadium in Donghae City, Gangwon Province, on Friday, the team won 3-2 in the round of 16 against Yongsan Middle School (Seoul) behind a hat trick from Ham Sang-yeon (3 goals).
Sangok Namjung got off to a shaky start against Yongsan메이저놀이터, conceding a goal to Kim Jun-seok (Yongsan) just five minutes into the first quarter.
They started to catch up in the second quarter, but conceded another goal to Kwon Bo-az (Yongsanjoong) with just over two minutes left in the game to fall behind by two goals and go down 0-2.
After finishing the first half 0-2, Sangok Namjung fought back in the third quarter but seemed to be lethargic as they surrendered the lead to Yongsan.
However, in the fourth quarter, the players’ eyes changed. They didn’t give up and kept pushing Yongsanjoong. And eventually, they turned the game around.
With eight minutes left in the fourth quarter, Ham Sang-yeon scored the team’s first goal. Finding her groove, Ham Sang-yeon pushed Yongsanjoong hard and scored the equalizer and the game-winning goal with two minutes left in the game to complete a thrilling comeback and earn the first win.
Meanwhile, Bupyeongseo Girls’ Middle School also defeated Uirim Girls’ Middle School (Chungbuk) 4-0 in the first match of the girls’ secondary school preliminary round.
This gives Incheon a green light to enter the medal round for both men’s and women’s hockey.