Melbourne Make It Six From Six as Pride’s Women Steal the Shootout at Parkville

Six from six. That’s the story of Friday night in Melbourne, even if the Pride made them work for the headlines.

HC Melbourne’s men beat NSW Pride 6-2 at Parkville to stay perfect in the ONE Active Hockey One League, and they did it against the only side that looked capable of catching them. The hosts were 3-1 up at the break and never let the Pride back into it. Melbourne had already booked their finals spot before a ball was hit, but this was about making a statement, and they made it loudly.

The Pride came in second, four points back, knowing a win or even a shootout win would have booked their own place in the finals. They leave Melbourne still needing points. Their last chance comes in Round 7, at home to the Tassie Tigers in Newcastle on Friday 20 November. Lose that in regulation and the finals race gets very uncomfortable for a side that started the season as one of the favourites.

Blake Govers went into the night having scored in all five of the Pride’s games this season, his 47th Hockey One goal coming in last week’s shootout win over the Chill. The men’s scorers from Friday night weren’t published in the league’s wrap at the time of writing, so there’s no confirmed word yet on whether he made it six from six. What is certain is the result, and it leaves no doubt about who the team to beat is.

The women went the distance

If the men’s game was settled early, the women’s game went right to the wire. NSW Pride led for most of it through Alice Arnott’s 11th-minute penalty corner, and for 49 minutes it looked like that would be enough. Then Rebecca Greiner struck a field goal in the 60th minute to drag HC Melbourne level at 1-1, and the shootout decided it.

The Pride held their nerve. Arnott, Mariah Williams and Alana Kavanagh all converted, while Melbourne managed just one from four, Samantha Love the only scorer as Kristina Bates, Zali Ward and Mihaylia Howell all missed. Pride take the shootout 3-1 and the two points that go with it.

For Melbourne’s women, the point still does the job. Anything but a regulation loss was enough to book their finals spot, and a shootout defeat counts as exactly that. They’re in. The Pride’s place still isn’t sealed, and that gets decided on Sunday in Brisbane, where the Blaze host Canberra. A Canberra win there changes the picture completely.

Pride Round, played properly

All of this happened on a night the whole league had dressed up for. Round 6 is Pride Round, and every club is taking part this year, with the Pride Pledge read out before push-back at every venue and rainbow socks on the home sides. The theme this year is Play Your Part, and Hockey Australia picked up Gold in the 2026 Pride in Sport Index to go with it. It’s a good look for the league, and Friday night’s double-header was the right stage for it.

The round isn’t done. Saturday takes the action to Hobart, where the Tassie Tigers host the Melbourne Cobras, and to Perth, where the Thundersticks women put their perfect record on the line against Adelaide Fire. Sunday finishes in Brisbane with the Blaze against Canberra, the game that decides whether the Pride women are in the finals or sweating on the last round.

For our money, Melbourne’s men are now clear favourites for the title, and it’s hard to see who stops them. But the Pride’s women showed on Friday that they don’t fold, and if they get to the Gold Coast, nobody will want to face them in a shootout.

Round 6 remaining fixtures (all times PKT)

Saturday 14 November, Hobart

• Tassie Tigers v Melbourne Cobras, men 7:00am, women 8:45am

Saturday 14 November, Perth

• Perth Thundersticks v Adelaide Fire, men 12:30pm, women 2:15pm

Sunday 15 November, Brisbane

• Brisbane Blaze v Canberra Chill, women 9:00am, men 10:45am

Every match streams live and free on 7plus in Australia and through the Hockey One Global Pass overseas. The finals are 5-6 December on the Gold Coast.