Auckland United FC Set Up Title Decider With Hekari Womens FC At The OPC Women's Champions League In Tahiti
The New Zealand champions face a rematch against Hekari Women's FC in Saturday's (Tahiti time) decider.
Ben Bate's side won the final 1-0 in the Solomon Islands last year and also defeated Hekari 2-1 in Group play last week.
They made a statement against Henderson Eels, scoring three times in the first seven minutes to effectively seal progression to the final.
Zoe Benson scored a hat-trick inside 28 minutes to overtake Hekari United's Marie Kaipu in the race for the Golden Boot. She now has eight for the tournament, one clear of the Papua New Guinea side's captain and star striker.
Henderson Eels playmaker Ileen Pegi showed her class in a brief moment of respite for the Eels with a strong run down the flank, before cutting back inside of Saskia Vosper and unleashing a stunning right footed strike to beat a despairing Hannah Mitchell in the Auckland United FC goal.
That goal in the 26th minute was as good as it got for the Solomon Islanders on attack. They did manage a freekick against the crossbar late in the second half. At the other end while Betty Sade had a tough time in the Henderson Eels goal, she produced a moment of magic to deny Ava Pritchard from the penalty spot in the 36th minute.
Leading by 5-1 at the break, Auckland United FC ensured there would be no dramatic comeback from their opponents two minutes after the restart when substitute Danielle Canham scored Auckland's sixth goal of the game.
From there Ben Bate's side controlled the tempo but were unable to find the back of the net again as Henderson Eels produced a resolute defensive display that was missing in the opening 30 minutes of the match.
Auckland United FC 6 (Tupelo DUGAN 4', Zoe BENSON 5' 18' 28', Ava PRITCHARD 7', Danielle CANHAM 47'
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