2018–19 Men's Belgian Hockey League

The 2018–19 Men's Belgian Hockey League was the 100th season of the Belgian field hockey men's top division. It began on 2 September 2018 and it concluded with the second leg of the championship final on 12 May 2019.[1] Dragons were the defending champions, having won the 2017–18 season.

Men's Belgian Hockey League

Season	2018–19
Dates	2 September 2018 – 12 May 2019
Champions	Léopold (28th title)
Relegated	Daring White Star
Euro Hockey League	Léopold Beerschot Herakles
Matches played	122
Goals scored	736 (6.03 per match)
Top goalscorer	Tom Boon (38 goals)
← 2017–18 2019–20 →

Léopold won their 28th title by defeating Beerschot 6–5 in aggregate in the championship final (two-legged tie).[2]

Teams

Antwerp

Beerschot

Braxgata

Brussels

Dragons

Gantoise

Herakles

Waterloo Ducks

Brussels teams
Daring
Léopold
Orée
Racing
White Star

Locations of the 2018–19 Audi Hockey League teams

A total of 12 teams took part in the league : The best 10 teams from the 2017–18 season and the two best teams from National 1 (White Star and Antwerp).

Club	Location
Antwerp	Brecht
Beerschot	Kontich
Braxgata	Boom
Daring	Molenbeek-Saint-Jean
Dragons	Brasschaat
Gantoise	Ghent
Herakles	Berchem
Léopold	Uccle
Orée	Woluwe-Saint-Pierre
Racing	Uccle
Waterloo Ducks	Waterloo
White Star	Evere

Regular season

The twelve teams are grouped in two pools of six (Pool A and Pool B) based on the previous season's ranking :

• Pool A : 1, 4, 5, 8, 9, National 1 (2)
• Pool B : 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, National 1 (1)[3]

The teams of the same pool compete 2 times and face the teams of the other pool once. The first four of each pool are qualified for the play-offs and the last two of each pool play the play-downs.

Pool A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Racing	16	10	6	0	67	30	+37	36	Qualification for the play-offs
2	Orée	16	9	4	3	48	35	+13	31
3	Beerschot	16	8	2	6	46	45	+1	26
4	Dragons	16	7	2	7	40	35	+5	23
5	Braxgata	16	4	4	8	33	39	−6	16	Qualification for the play-downs
6	Antwerp	16	0	2	14	27	71	−44	2

Source:

Pool B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Waterloo Ducks	16	13	1	2	73	32	+41	40	Qualification for the play-offs
2	Gantoise	16	10	4	2	60	37	+23	34
3	Léopold (C)	16	10	2	4	59	32	+27	32
4	Herakles	16	4	6	6	42	53	−11	18
5	Daring (R)	16	2	2	12	34	66	−32	8	Qualification for the play-downs
6	White Star (R)	16	2	0	14	27	81	−54	6

Source:
(C) Champion; (R) Relegated.

Play-offs

All rounds are played in a two-legged tie. The scheme for the quarter-finals is as follows :

• Series 1: 1A/4B
• Series 2: 2B/3A
• Series 3: 1B/4A
• Series 4: 2A/3B

The semi-finals are played between the winners of series 1 and 2 and the winners of series 3 and 4. The winners qualify for the championship final where the two teams compete to decide who will be crowned Belgian champion.

Bracket

	Quarter-finals						Semi-finals						Final
	Racing	2	1	3 (1)
	Herakles	0	3	3 (3)
							Herakles	3	2	5
							Beerschot	3	4	7
	Gantoise	2	0	2
	Beerschot	1	2	3
													Beerschot	2	3	5
													Léopold	2	4	6
	Waterloo Ducks	1	4	5
	Dragons	4	2	6
							Dragons	2	1	3
							Léopold	2	2	4			EHL Play-off
	Orée	1	4	5
	Léopold	5	3	8
													Herakles	4	2	6 (5)
													Dragons	5	1	6 (3)

(1A) Racing vs (4B) Herakles

14 April 2019 15:00 Herakles 2–0 Racing Boon  12', 51'

28 April 2019 15:00 Racing 1–3 Herakles Boon  22' De Kerpel  11', 70' Haig  64' Penalties 1–3

Herakles won series 3-3 (3-1) in aggregate after penalty shoot-out.

(2B) Gantoise vs (3A) Beerschot

14 April 2019 15:00 Beerschot 1–2 Gantoise Catlin  70' Saladino Tolini  58'

28 April 2019 15:00 Gantoise 0-2 Beerschot Duvekot  12' Bull  17'

Beerschot won series 3-2 in aggregate.

(1B) Waterloo Ducks vs (4A) Dragons

14 April 2019 15:00 Dragons 4–1 Waterloo Ducks Raes  32', 46' Denayer  38' van Aubel  65' Boccard  54'

28 April 2019 15:00 Waterloo Ducks 4-2 Dragons Pangrazio  11' Van Oost  25' Boccard  40' Wilbers  57' Raes  28' Denayer  53'

Dragons won series 6-5 in aggregate.

(2A) Orée vs (3B) Léopold

14 April 2019 15:00 Léopold 5–1 Orée Russell  8', 30', 42' Zimmer  56' Degroote  60' Domene  16'

28 April 2019 15:00 Orée 4-3 Léopold Domene  35', 40', 43', 56' Degroote  6' Russell  52', 54'

Léopold won series 8-5 in aggregate.

Semi-finals

The semi-finals were played from 1 to 5 May 2019 at Herakles.

Herakles vs Beerschot

1 May 2019 16:00 Herakles 3–3 Beerschot Jenness  42' Keusters  56' Haig  68' Catlin  3' Rossi  38' Bull  51'

5 May 2019 15:00 Beerschot 4–2 Herakles Carson  7', 22', 36' Perez  15' Hottlet  49' Haig  63'

Beerschot won series 7–5 in aggregate.

Dragons vs Léopold

1 May 2019 17:30 Dragons 2–2 Léopold van Aubel  53' Willems  56' Brunet  59', 68'

5 May 2019 15:00 Léopold 2–1 Dragons Baumgarten  10' Russell  46' O'Donoghue  50'

Léopold won series 4–3 in aggregate.

EHL Play-off

The EHL play-off was played from 11 to 12 May 2019 at Herakles. The third place winner is qualified for the 2019–20 Euro Hockey League.

11 May 2019 11:00 Herakles 4–5 Dragons Haig  1', 57' Jenness  18' De Kerpel  68' Lootens  9' Uher  13' Shimmins  17' Denayer  50' Raes  51'

12 May 2019 11:00 Dragons 1–2 Herakles Raes  59' Haig  5' Jenness  26' Penalties 3–5

Herakles won series 6–6 (5-3) in aggregate after penalty shoot-out.

Final

The final was played from 11 to 12 May 2019 at Herakles. Both teams are qualified for the 2019–20 Euro Hockey League.

11 May 2019 13:30 Léopold 2–2 Beerschot Russell  17' Verdussen  32' Rossi  5' Catlin  70'

12 May 2019 13:30 Beerschot 3–4 Léopold Carson  6', 62' Verhoeven  41' Verdussen  33' Russell  43', 57' Eaton  52'

Léopold won series 6–5.

References

1. "CALENDRIER / KALENDER 2018-2019 OUTDOOR" (PDF). www.hockey.be (in French and Dutch). Royal Belgian Hockey Association. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
2. "Belgian Hockey Finals 2019 : le Léo et l'Antwerp sacrés champions 2019 !". hockey.be (in French). Royal Belgian Hockey Association. 12 May 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
3. "Les poules de la prochaine division Honneur". www.okey.lalibre.be (in French). La Libre Belgique. 21 June 2018. Retrieved 23 June 2019.