{"id":93883,"date":"2026-04-19T11:59:55","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T09:59:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=93883"},"modified":"2026-04-19T11:59:55","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T09:59:55","slug":"kloppers-stars-as-menlopark-secures-third-consecutive-puk-series-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=93883","title":{"rendered":"Kloppers stars as Menlopark secures third consecutive Puk Series title"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Menlopark defeated a familiar foe, Waterkloof, to claim their third Puk Series title in a row. Photo: Desir\u00e9 Troskie.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Annika Kloppers<\/strong><\/a> made four saves to help Die Ho\u00ebrskool Menlopark<\/strong> clinch a 2-0 penalty shootout win over Ho\u00ebrskool Waterkloof<\/strong> in the final of the NWU Puk Series <\/strong>at Dr EG Jansen<\/strong> on Saturday.<\/p>\n

“It was a good game of hockey with end-to-end action. It could have been anyone’s [win] at the end of the day,” Brad Brooks<\/strong>, the Menlopark coach, told SuperSport Schools Plus<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Over the past three years, Menlopark and Waterkloof have been the tournament’s dominant sides. Clashes between the two have been thrilling affairs, and they included a stalemate in the final in 2024.<\/p>\n

They met again in last year’s title game, with Menlopark edging out Waterkloof 2-1 to lift the title. Like the previous two finals, Saturday’s title decider was a low-scoring clash. It finished 1-1 after regulation time.<\/p>\n

Only five minutes into the contest, Isabella Oosthuizen<\/strong> finished a well-worked move that originated on the right flank to put Menlopark into the lead. It didn’t last long. Coach Omari Pienaar-Geyer<\/strong>‘s team drew level only three minutes later through Jenna Trewin<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were real positives in our performance despite the loss,” Pienaar-Geyer said. The girls outletted and pressed well. They created several opportunities, but just couldn’t find the net.<\/p>\n

After the opening chukka finished at 1-1, the next three chukkas delivered fast-paced, attacking hockey between evenly matched sides. Waterkloof stitched together brilliant moves into Menlopark’s final third, where Menlo’s defenders showed their mettle.<\/p>\n

When they breached the Menlopark backs’ line, Waterkloof was met by Kloppers. Her brilliant performance included clearing a ball that was behind her.<\/p>\n

“The effort and resilience were there. We just couldn’t find the finishing touch,” Pienaar-Geyer said.<\/p>\n

Menlopark matched Waterkloof\u2019s energy with their own attacks into the Waterkloof final third. But Klofies <\/strong><\/em>defended with discipline.<\/p>\n

When the contest headed into a penalty shootout,\u00a0Kloppers faced the first eight-second penalty. Displaying her experience and ability, she denied Waterkloof the lead. Kelly Vermeulen<\/strong> complemented Kloppers’ effort by converting Menlopark’s first attempt.<\/p>\n

Kloppers saved the second penalty to keep Menlopark in front, but Menlo’s second penalty attempt was stopped. Waterkloof stayed in the contest.<\/p>\n

They needed to convert their third penalty, but Kloppers rejected their attempt again.<\/p>\n

Chanette Janse van Vuuren<\/strong> then converted Menlopark’s third penalty to give them a two-goal cushion. Waterkloof had to find a way past Kloppers with their fourth penalty attempt to keep their title hopes alive. The ‘keeper proved to be unbeatable.<\/p>\n

“I am happy with the win. The midfield worked really hard, and we were defensively sound,” Menlopark coach Brad Brook summed up his side’s victory.<\/p>\n

“It was a good reward for the hard work that we are doing.”<\/p>\n

Result
\n<\/strong>
\nMenlopark (2) 1-1 (0) Waterkloof<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Annika Kloppers made four saves to help Die Ho\u00ebrskool Menlopark clinch a 2-0 penalty shootout win over Ho\u00ebrskool Waterkloof in the final of the NWU Puk Series at Dr EG Jansen on Saturday. “It was a good game of hockey with end-to-end action. It could have been anyone’s [win] at the end of the day,” […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":93884,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=93883"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93883\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/93884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=93883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=93883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=93883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}