As a defender, if you have to appear before Viaplay’s cameras after a game, it’s either good news or bad news. Are you the hero or the schlemiel. In the case of Sophie Schelfhout (22), the former definitely applies. For the Hurley defender scored her very first (and second) goal in the big league. Two goals against top club Amsterdam, helping Hurley to a handsome point (2-2) on Saturday night.
Anyone looking at the results of the Tulip big league last week blinked for a moment at seeing the tie (2-2) between Hurley and Den Bosch. A fluke or a bad day by the national champion, you would think. But Saturday proved that Hurley is not resting on luck. Once again the team snatched points from a top club. And again it was 2-2.
‘We actually had tons of confidence because of last week,’ matchwinner Sophie Schelfhout told me shortly after the match. ‘Then we managed to stunt. So why not now?’ A logical statement, especially when you have shot the 2-2 in the last minute. But she means it. ‘I assure you: we are really not a fun team to play against. This is no coincidence.
The happy Sophie Schelfhout. Photo: Bart Scheulderman
The (no longer so) secret weapon
And that is certainly not the case because of Schelfhout’s flats, Hurley’s secret weapon. Because where the first half of the season almost always opted for Valentina Costa Biondi’s penalty corner, coach Robbert van de Peppel tried something different after the winter. Schelfhout’s surprising sliding shot. All winter she trained on her variation. An unexpected twist. With results. She was successful against Den Bosch (last week it was Michelle van der Drift who still touched the flats) and against Amsterdam. Twice she did exactly the same thing. As hard as possible towards the right corner. With the same result each time: the pounding sound of the board.
‘Just ramming as hard as possible, that was the intention,’ says Schelfhout. Who then admits that Hurley’s second corner actually hit with some luck. ‘When I saw we were getting a penalty corner, I immediately looked around. Looking for stoppers. But the three of them were sitting next to each other on the bench. Shit, I thought,’ she laughed. ‘Do we get a corner like that just before time, we have to improvise.’ She decided to stop the ball at the head circle herself and then fire it off. ‘I think I’ll just watch it back later, because I have no idea how it worked out.’
One point against Den Bosch, one point against Amsterdam … Hurley would almost hope that SCHC was on the schedule next week, to make it difficult for yet another top team. But the selection does not travel to Bilthoven, but to HDM in The Hague. Moreover, Hurley’s secret weapon is no longer so secret after Saturday. ‘I think everyone knows about it now,’ she laughs.
Photo: Bart Scheulderman
‘I really never score’
Schelfhout is in her fifth season in the big league. In 2020/2021 she played for Laren and in recent years she has been playing in the Amsterdam Forest. But in 4.5 years she never managed to score a goal. She has to laugh. ‘I really never score. I also don’t know how to cheer at all. I was wondering that during the game. What am I actually doing? I’m so surprised when it goes in.’
When she watches the footage tonight, she sees how she cheers. With a huge smile on her face. One that never left her face for the rest of the day. Not to the written press, not to Viaplay’s cameras. When she is one of the last to leave Wagener Stadium, the smile comes in handy once again. The family is facetimed. ‘I scored twice,’ she beams through the phone. And rightfully so. Her flats are a warning to the rest of the big league.
Photo: Bart Scheulderman
by Hockey.nl