Black Sticks switching focus to quarter-finals
The Black Sticks women have switched their focus to the quarterfinals after yesterday defeating Malaysia 1-0 in their final pool game at the World League Semifinal in Brussels.
New Zealand dominated all facets of the match but were let down by their finishing on attack. The Kiwis had an incredible 33 shots at goal and 11 penalty corners but were able to convert only once against the plucky Malaysians.
Striker Olivia Merry scored the lone goal after breaking away on a solo run and shooting from the top of the circle, following up on an initial save by the keeper to smash home on a second attempt.
Head coach Mark Hager said it was disappointing to come away with such a low conversion rate from their efforts. “I thought we were pretty disappointing. Malaysia put us under pressure but we created plenty of goal shots and corners, we just weren't clinical enough,” he said.
“The pool round is over now and we're looking ahead to the quarterfinals which is all that counts.
“We need to get our basics right, we're not quite switched on and hence we didn't end up putting more in the back of the net.”
With the Black Sticks second in Pool B, other results will determine a sudden death quarter-final against either Korea or Italy in the early hours of tomorrow morning.