TIGERS have triumphed in back-to-back penalty shootouts to qualify for their first decider since 2017 and end the major title streak of Oxfords.
Having drawn 1-all in Saturday's preliminary final, Tigers beat Oxfords 3-1 in the shootout at Newcastle International Hockey Centre.
Tigers, who also eliminated Regals in a shootout last weekend, now clash with top-ranked Gosford in the Newcastle District Women's Hockey Association premier league showdown for 2022.
Oxfords had won the three most recent grand finals, from 2018 to 2020 with last year's competition cut short because of COVID.
"We really muscled up and threw everything at it. The one thing I wanted was 100 percent effort win or loss and we definitely did that," Tigers coach Jackie Porter-Kay said.
"They [Oxfords] are a very good team, major premiers the last three seasons, so not easy to beat and they beat us quite convincingly last time. Very pleasing to go out there and perform as well as we did."
Porter-Kay praised the shootout efforts of Tigers junior Tiarna Tull, who stepped up to convert having played limited game time, and 15-year-old goalkeeper Emma Blume.
Katie Hamment opened Tigers' account in regular time before Oxfords equalised in the second half.
In the men's Hunter Coast Premier Hockey League it was hosts and reigning champions Gosford who booked a ticket to the grand final with Michael Taylor scoring a hat-trick in Sunday's 4-1 win over Maitland.
Meanwhile, Souths player Nathan Czinner is poised to tour Malaysia next month after being named in the Australian under-21 men's squad for the Sultan of Johor Cup.
