Women's Irish Hockey League

Pegasus and Loreto will battle it out for the women's Irish Hockey League title as they shaded incredibly close ties with UCD and Hermes, respectively.

In the first semi-final, Vanessa Surgeoner's 62nd minute penalty corner strike saw Pegasus end UCD's reign as Irish Hockey League champions, scoring a 2-1 win.

She fired home direct from the top with a powerful hit for the game's decisive moment while goalkeeper Ayeisha McFerran's fine game ensured the Ulster club stayed clear.

Suzanne Ferris made it 1-0 to Pegasus on the half hour when she swept home first time from a right wing cross. UCD replied quickly when Emily Beatty was felled in the circle, allowing Katie Mullan to pot from the penalty spot for 1-1 at half-time.

Surgeoner then won it in the second half from a rare break-out in the third quarter to keep alive their chances of a second title having won the crown in 2011.

2009 champions Loreto moved a step closer to a second title as Niamh Small's 57th minute goal proved enough to see off Hermes in the second semi-final, winning 1-0.

It was created by Lena Tice and Lizzie Colvin, working the opening for the latter smash in the crash ball which took a couple of ricochets with Small getting the the key touch to wrong-foot the excellent Emma Gray.

The Beaufort side had the best of the early chances with Nikki McConnell going closest, pinging the underside of the bar with an upright reverse-stick effort.

Gray saved brilliantly from Jessica McGirr's deflected corner but Small eventually broke the deadlock with 13 minutes to go. After that, Hermes went into all-out attack mode and had two massive chances to level things but Loreto clung on to salvage the result.

Women's Irish Hockey League

Semi-final results: Pegasus 2 (S Ferris, V Surgeoner) UCD 1 (K Mullan); Loreto 1 (N Small) Hermes 0
Final (Sunday, Grange Road): Pegasus vs Loreto, 1.30pm