Vantaa HC wins the indoor hockey Finnish Masters championship!

Vantaa HC celebrated on Saturday at the final day of the indoor hockey tournament in Iittala Hall. The club's women and men won the Finnish championships in exciting finals.

The women's championship was narrowly decided in the eighth penalty shootout when Vantaa's Emma Ondreka succeeded to score on Porvoo’s goalie Reija Jokinen and Vantaa’s goalkeeper Jonna Oksa saved Porvoo's final attempt. The regular playing time ended in a 1-1 (0-0) tie. Porvoo's goal was scored by Helena Frejborg with the assist coming from Anne-Maarit Anttonen's pass. Vantaa's goal was scored by Marta Bolotova, who was chosen as the match's most valuable player (MVP).

On the men's side, Vantaa HC defeated Warriors HC 4-2 (2-0). Vantaa led 3-0 going into the final quarter, but Warriors developed a fierce momentum at the end and got to a 2-3 situation, but despite a powerful push, they were unable to tie the match. In the end, Lauri Ondreka, who was awarded the most valuable player of the match, scored from a short corner to make it 4-2 in the last second of the match. The opening goal of the match began with Elmeri Rihtilä from a penalty shot in the last minute of the first period. In the 2nd minute of the second period, Massimo Ruohonen increased Vantaa's lead from a pass from Lauri Ondreka. Following this trend right at the beginning of the third period, Petri Mikkola increased the lead to three goals, again provided by Lauri Ondreka. The Warriors' wild run began with Gurdit Gill pass from Paramprit Gill with 3 minutes left in the quarter. And three minutes before the end of the match, Floris van Doorn scored to make it 2-3. In the end, both teams still had several scoring opportunities, but goalkeepers Paavo Ondreka (Vantaa) and Jobanvir Khaira (Warriors), who were among the best in the entire match, made top saves.

Earlier in the day, the bronze medal matches were also played, where HT-85 won the men's medals with a 3-2 victory over Kilppari HC. In the women's bronze match Warriors HC defeated Seinäjoki United, who were new to enter in the women’s indoor hockey league, with a score of 3-2.

The goalscorers in the men's bronze medal match were Santeri Karjalainen, Santeri Määttänen and Joonatan Ojala from HT. The goal for Kilppari was scored by Rasmus Karjalainen.

The top scoring player in the women's bronze medal match was Antonia Schoff from Warriors with two goals. The Warriors' third goal was scored by Debbie Elliot. The United goalscorers were Susanna Myllymäki and Sanni Ruuttula.

The Finnish Hockey Federation congratulates the 2025 Finnish champions, HC Vantaa, as well as the other medal-winning teams.

The games were streamed on the Finnish Hockey Federation's YouTube channel. The season's statistics and top scorers can be found on the Torneopal - Indoor website. We encourage everyone to follow the federation's YouTube channel.

 Photos: Ville Järvinen