Black Sticks hopeful despite loss to Japan
The Black Sticks women’s chances of progressing at the Women’s Hockey World Cup remain high despite a 2-1 loss to Japan yesterday in London.
Mark Hager’s team fell behind by two goals to Japan – ranked eight places behind New Zealand – who outhustled their opponents for much of the Pool D match at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre.
Shihori Oikawa opened the scoring from a penalty corner in the 35th minute before Minami Shimizu doubled the lead in the 48th minute after a turnover moving the ball out of the back cost the Black Sticks.
Anita McLaren got one back for New Zealand via a penalty stroke in the 52nd minute but with Olivia Merry off the field due to a yellow card inside the final five minutes they could not crack Japan’s defence.
The Black Sticks had a 14-12 advantage in shots and 26-22 in circle penetrations but too often their attacks were easily snuffed out by Japan.
Australia and Belgium played out a scoreless draw in the only other match yesterday. Australia lead the pool with four points, followed by New Zealand and Japan on three and Belgium on one.
The results mean the only way the Black Sticks can miss out on advancing to the round of 16 is a loss to Australia and a Belgium win over Japan in the final Pool D matches on Sunday, while also falling behind Japan in goal differential and/or goals scored.
New Zealand currently lead Japan in goal differential and goals scored by one.
Any other sequence of results would see the Black Sticks advance, while they could also top Pool D with a victory over Australia and move directly into the quarterfinals.