Black Sticks ‘still shaking’ after shootout

Sam Harrison said she hadn’t been that nervous since making a bungee jump.

Mark Hager watch.

Most Black Sticks fans probably looked through their fingers as New Zealand got through to the women’s hockey gold medal match at the Commonwealth Games.

Harrison and captain Stacey Michelsen scored in the fingernailchewing shootout decider after New Zealand and England were tied at 0-0 after 60 minutes on the Gold Coast on Thursday night.

Goalkeeper Grace O’Hanlon - used by coach Hager in a tactical switch for the shootout as a replacement for Sally Rutherford - saved four of the five English attempts to propel New Zealand decided not to into a final against Australia today as they chase their first Games gold.

‘‘That’s the most nervous I’ve ever been in my life,’’ Harrison said.

‘‘It was my first shootout that I’ve taken in a big match like that. I’m still nervous ... I’m still shaking.

‘‘It kind of reminded me of when I did a bungee jump actually - I was so nervous, my head was spinning. It was the same feeling.’’

Harrison, a Black Sticks veteran at 26, said it brought back memories of her last Games appearance at Delhi in 2010, when New Zealand lost to Australia in a shootout.

She had praise for O’Hanlon and the team’s preparation for this situation.

‘‘We do a lot of homework, to see what keepers and players do. Our keepers are really diligent on their scouting.

‘‘She’s [O’Hanlon] a really mobile keeper, that’s why she’s really good at that job. Sally keeps it out during the game, then Grace takes over.

Hager described the shootout as ‘‘heart-pumping’’ and admitted he turned his back on it.

‘‘I did the same thing in the Hockey Indian League - we went to a shootout in the semifinal and I couldn’t watch. I thought I’d do the same thing and see what happens.

‘‘Grace was brilliant. She kept us in it and gave us a chance.

‘‘That helps the people taking the shootouts when you’re goalkeepers making saves; they get confidence and hopefully the heart-rate comes down a little bit.

‘‘I also need to praise Sally Rutherford. I thought she was fantastic during the game - her first half basically kept us in the contest, because we were under the pump. They had a a lot of baseline entries and a lot of ball across the face of goal and I thought Sally was brilliant in that area for us.’’

England were the better team in the first half but New Zealand grew stronger in a match where both defences scrambled superbly.

‘‘We wanted to win the game - we went to a set structure we wanted to try in the last five minutes and we created a couple of opportunities,’’ Hager said.

‘‘So that’s also pleasing to know that if we’re down, we can go to that.’’