New Zealand Women defeat USA 4-0 in second test of five-match series – Hockey Update
The Women’s hockey team of New Zealand has emerged victorious over USA in the second test of the five-match series by 4-0 that took place at the Olympic Training Centre in Chula Vista, California on September 5.
The Black Sticks edged out the American ladies for a second consecutive time within 24 hours. In the first match of the series, the visitors knocked down the home side by a single goal, 2-1 and established their dominance.
New Zealand, the sixth ranked team in the World ranking showed a more improved and better game against the 13th ranked USA side as they scored four goals while holding their rivals goalless in the seventy-minute of play.
Kayla Bashore-Smedley of USA while speaking to the media after losing the game stated that they came out very slow in the first thirty-five minutes which resulted in a heavy margin of defeat. She said, “We picked up the intensity in the second half and created
some opportunities but were unfortunately unable to score off of them. We look forward to starting Wednesday’s game like we finished today’s.”
Mark Hager, the coach of the Black Sticks team while talking to the media expressed his joy over the two back-to-back victories during the US tourney. Though he had some reservations over the second half performance, he was satisfied in the first half action.
He said, “It was an improved performance for the team from yesterday, however we lost some game structure late in the second half. We lost our way a bit in the second half, and our basic skills let us down a bit.”
The Black Sticks’ trainer is looking for more perfection from his side in the remaining three matches of the series.
The visitors started the action from the very early minutes and carried out back-to-back action from the very beginning. Katie Glynn of New Zealand attempted to score off a short corner but failed to do so in the seventh minute of the game. However, she
did not miss the opportunity soon after four minutes when she received a pass from Gemma Flynn at the right flank.
In the 24th minute of the match, Katie Glynn scored her second goal of the match through a penalty conversion and increased the tally up to two. With 27 minutes into the first half, Cathryn Finlayson scored a goal from a decent field effort and
extended the lead up to three.
Kayla Sharland notched the last score in the 51st minute and sealed the victory at 4-0. The victory also boosted the morale of New Zealand and gave them an edge in the series.
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