The women faced Shepparton Strikers in an inconsequential match to the ladder, with both sides locked into facing each other in a semi-final.
The River Rats cruised to a 4-1 win, extending their current unbeaten run to five matches, with four of them being victories.
With two games to play in the regular season, Echuca-Moama will finish second and play the third-placed Strikers again in the first week of the post-season.
The River Rats will enter that contest having not lost to Shepparton in 2026, winning four of their five meetings.
Top seed Mooroopna is Echuca-Moama’s next opponent, the two sides facing off one last time in the regular season, the result eagerly anticipated given it is the likely grand final match-up in the women’s competition.
Meanwhile, the men’s side continued their surge throughout the second half of the season with a third win from the past four matches.
Echuca-Moama defeated winless Mooroopna, 4-2, and has now played itself into finals contention.
The victory moves the River Rats up to fourth on the ladder, despite them having less points than fifth-placed Shepparton Strikers Blue.
Echuca-Moama is above by having a marginally better win ratio, the key tiebreaker, which sits at 36.36 per cent to Shepparton’s 36.11.
Strikers Blue doesn't play next week, the competition’s final round, as it serves a bye.
Should Echuca-Moama lose its last match to second-placed Shepparton Youth Club Blue, its win ratio would drop below the Strikers’.
A draw also wouldn’t be enough, as although the two sides would end with the same ratio, the Strikers have a much stronger goal difference.
It means the River Rats must win to secure fourth and a spot in the semi-finals, a tough ask against a side it lost to 3-0 in their last meeting.
While enjoying two wins, Echuca-Moama also marked Hockey Victoria’s Men’s Health Round by handing out player of the match medals in both senior matches.
Lachlan Keillor was the men’s recipient, while Hannah Durrant took out the women’s accolade.
The junior sides did not have the same success in round 13, with the under-16 River Rats forfeiting to Shepparton Strikers due to insufficient player numbers.
The under-13s lost to Shepparton Youth Club, 4-2, but are still in the top four on the ladder with one game to play.
Elsewhere in hockey, the Castlemaine side made up of Echuca-Moama players in Hockey Central Victoria had a milestone result, breaking through for its first victory of 2026.
Troy Kenny, Ashley Phipps and Chloe Kell were the goalscorers as Castlemaine defeated Eaglehawk 3-1, finally snapping its winless run at the 12th attempt.
It was also the side’s final match of the season as it serves a bye in the last round 16, Castlemaine locked into finishing bottom of the five-team competition with a 1-1-10 record.
12°C