Kalinga Lancers made an exciting comeback to seal the penalty shootout against Delhi Pipers as HIL 2025 Phase 2 got underway.

It was a rollercoaster ride penalty shootout in the opener of Phase 2 of Hockey India League-2025 for the team of Vedanta Kalinga Lancers as they outplayed Delhi SG Pipers and won it off by 3-2 marks on Sunday in Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium here in Rourkela, leaving nothing back and putting it all into giving full play to every ounce of power and skill by both the sides.

For the last time in this match, Lancers found themselves on the back foot, having been presented with a humongous home crowd against them. Delhi Pipers kick-started the game by taking the lead right at the 13th minute when Alex Hendrickx delivered his well-taken penalty corner flick. Tomas Domene managed two goals via drag flicks, and Corey Weyer did one rebound goal for Pipers. Koji Yamasaki also hit the back of the net as the Pipers took the half 4-1 ahead.

But the Kalinga Lancers were far from done with the match. Coming out of the break with a newfound intent, they saw it out with renewed fire. And it was Thierry Brinkman who began that renewed fight with a goal at the start of the third quarter. With a two-goal lead, Dilraj Singh had turned the fortunes of the game in favor of the Pipers. Kalinga was not ready to let it go, though. They responded in the final quarter with Brinkman scoring his second goal, Angad Bir Singh scoring another, and Hendrickx converting another penalty corner to make it 5-5.

Both teams will decide on who should win by going into penalty shootout since the game was already tied now at 5-5 after having been a real battle going both ways back and forth for both sides as they traded blows with each other in fine exhibition of how much resilience each had built up for themselves.

It is the penalty shootout that made dramatic an end to the match. Lancers had Goalkeeper Toby Reynolds-Cotterill as the hero. Step by step he saved three under immense pressure to save it. Kalinga won it 3-2 and took hope of getting into the playoffs for the fourth win in a row in the season.

Delhi, however, continued their losing streak for the seventh game on the trot and the Pipers could not even make the fruit of a good tree. The Pipers did not seize early control as they rue missed opportunities to clinch the match.

Lancers have been provided with a perfect platform from where they can launch into Phase 2 of the tournament from this victory. This huge victory is bound to lift the confidence of these side as they will be highly keen on trying for the play-off places. The challenge for Delhi Pipers now remains mounting to revive the season for their team as soon as possible. In other words, it is necessary to regroup their team to search for every possibility of preventing setbacks if anything needs to go their way during the remaining part of the league.

It is such a pulsating encounter that featured one of the absolute showcases of the high level of competition in the Hockey India League 2025. With phase 2 beginning, fans could only expect more of this kind of nail-biting performances when the teams will be fighting for some of those most prized playoff spots. This superb comeback and momentum will surely be drawn in by the Kalinga Lancers to carry onto their next Pool-A fixture.