New Zealand’s Black Sticks women have qualified for the Hockey World Cup after a tense 5-4 win against Australia on penalties in the Oceania Cup series decider in the Northern Territory.
Photo: supplied
The Black Sticks women have snatched a remarkable win on penalties against Australia’s Hockeyroos to seal a place in next year’s World Cup
New Zealand stepped up to claim the 5-4 win on penalties in the upset 2-1 Oceania Cup series win in Darwin on Sunday.
Australia led the decider 1-0 until a late fourth quarter equaliser sent the match into a shootout.
Black Sticks goalkeeper Grace O’Hanlon who made a heroic save, said the team is on cloud nine after a perfect five-from-five effort in the shootout.
“It feels like something has been building for us for so long,” O’Hanlon said.
“We’ve had this grinding couple of years, and then at the Nations Cup we started to build.
“The belief has started to be there and this is the result.”
Heading into the Oceania Cup decider, the three-game series was evenly balanced at one game all with the Black Sticks also winning the series opener in Darwin.
Australia bounced back on home turf to take the second game.
An ecstatic O’Hanlon said the series win over the world number five Australian side is a significant step forward for New Zealand, who are ranked 10th.
She said the team would celebrate wholeheartedly into the night.
The New Zealand side is coached by former men’s Black Stick Phil Burrows.
He said the Oceania Cup is fiercely contested and he urged his side to play with freedom and confidence.