The South Island team had already booked their spot in the final — and led the competition all season — but beating the Tridents 3-1 in the dying minutes of the final round robin game in Christchurch yesterday did not hurt.
The win will give the Alpiners even more confidence, after finding a way to break through the Tridents’, who represent the Auckland and Northland areas, defence in the 59th minute.
Captain Sam Lane started things for the Alpiners.
George Baker won a penalty in the opening minute and Lane, the competition’s leading scorer, made no mistake and buried it.
Isaac Houlbrooke scored in the 40th minute for the Tridents.
But Baker scored, and followed up with the conversion, in the 59th minute to give the Alpiners a 3-1 victory.
The Falcons men, similar to the Alpiners, already banked enough points to make the final against the Alpiners.
But they lost 7-5 to the Mavericks and will need a better performance when they play the Alpiners.
The Alpiners women won the penalty shootout 4-3 against the Tridents women in Christchurch yesterday.
But the Tridents gained the point they needed to make the gold medal final against the Falcons.
The Alpiners women held strong throughout the game to draw 1-1 at the end of regular time.
Britt Wang scored in the 12th minute for the Alpiners, but Pippa Norman hit back for the Tridents in the 34th minute.
In the shootout, Breana Catley clipped her shot in for the Tridents from the backhand side, and Jenna Rae McIntyre followed up with the same for the Alpiners.
The Tridents added another, Tessa Reid slapped in another for the Alpiners, Holly Pearson added for the Tridents and Wang levelled it 3-3.
A couple of misses from both sides followed — some great keeping from Alpiners goalie Kirsty Nation — and Aleisha Davis secured the win for the home side.
The Alpiners women will face the Mavericks in the bronze final in North Harbour on Saturday, while the Tridents play the Falcons in the gold final.
