Sant Andreu sink De Zaan to secure historic first Super Cup title

CN Sant Andreu added the Super Cup to their growing trophy collection, albeit in far less dramatic fashion than their sensational Champions League triumph last April. On Sunday afternoon in Barcelona, they left no doubt in this final as they downed Euro Cup winners ZV De Zaan with ease, 17-10. Playing in front of their home crowd, they stormed to a 7-3 lead inside eight minutes, and the gap only grew in the following three quarters. Just like in the Champions League, this was also a historic first victory for the Spaniards.

2025/26 Super Cup Women
Sunday 12th October
Barcelona

CN Sant Andreu (ESP ) 17-10 ZV De Zaan (NED)

CN Sant Andreu’s Ruiz siblings kickstarted the Super Cup final with three goals from as many possessions. Elena hit two fine ones from action, while leftie Ariadna netted a six on five for a 3-0 lead. The Spanish defence had three clean clearances in the meantime, before ZV De Zaan could earn an extra and Rolin Schuijt put them on the scoreboard with a close-range finish.

Still, the fourth straight attack ended in a goal at the other end as Nona Perez’s fierce shot also found the back of the net.

The Dutch made back-to-back steals to stop the Spaniards’ march, but only temporarily, as they were unable to outplay the hosts’ zonal defence.

After a brief pause in scoring, the last two and half minutes of the first quarter turned into shooting contest. Five consecutive possessions brought goals, and again, Sant Andreu did the better job to lead 7-3 after eight minutes.

How the second period began was a kind of forecast how the game would unfold. Alba Munoz put away an extra from the 2m line right away, while De Zaan missed back-to-back extras (at least they netted both in the first period).

To retain some hope, Chirstina Hicks pulled one back from a fine counter after a couple of sluggish possessions from the hosts, but with some luck around a loose ball, the hosts scored again, while De Zaan went on missing their extras.

Wasting two more put the writing on the wall, as the Dutch would have needed a close-to-perfection game to stand a chance against the Champions League winners, but a 0 for 4 conversion ratio alone in the second period couldn’t have been farther from perfection.

At least De Zaan were able to find ways to score from action, like Takyiwa Sam’s nice centre shot, but the response came immediately as Gisel La Farre netted a one-timer from the right wing.

Nona Perez made no mistake in Sant Andreu’s next six on five, and even though Lieke Rogge replied from a great drive to the centre, the 11-6 half-time score didn’t suggest the local fans had anything to worry about.

The third period was less intense – somewhat understandably – as the first four minutes saw one goal apiece, a penalty and a nicely played extra from De Zaan, so still five goals separated the finalists. Soon it was six again, as Perez forced another penalty, and Elena Ruiz buried it for 13-7.

After finally making a six on five early on, the Dutch missed four more, so they stood 1 for 9 in the middle two periods. And the hosts launched their first real counter after the third one, which Queralt Anton finished off for 14-7.

Anton deserved to join the scorers’ list as she had been her team’s hero in the Champions League final in Piraeus last April as she netted the last two goals, the second was the winner 0:02 from time (and she had also been the engine behind Spain’s U18 triumph in Malta a month ago).

Schuijt’s third goal from a rare Dutch counter opened the fourth quarter, while the home side needed almost three minutes to add another one. It was a nicely composed attack with a great finish from Elena Ruiz – her fifth in the game.

Sister Ariadna managed to come back to 5-3 in the family duel by converting an extra, but only after Hicks had scored from a spectacular six on five, to highlight the class De Zaan can offer.

A late exchange of nice action goals, from Philippa Pedley and Nerida Drewes, secured a nice ending to the final where Sant Andreu’s historical first Super Cup win was never in danger.

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Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics

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