The Black Sticks have beaten Olympic silver medallists Argentina 2-1 in their second game of the Four Nations at the ITM Hockey Centre in Whangarei tonight.
It was a much better performance from the Black Sticks who played with confidence and created many opportunities with Charlotte Harrison and Katie Glynn both scoring goals.
"I'm much happier tonight! We did the basics better, were more disciplined and we played for each other. I felt like last night we played as individuals, whereas tonight was much more of a team performance," says head coach Mark Hager.
"There are some young players in this team and they are learning as we play each game. Now the challenge is to maintain that performance and play with consistency throughout the rest of the tournament," says Hager.
He says there is no doubting that the USA will be a tough side when they play them on Saturday after tomorrow's rest day. "We have a lot of respect for the work effort of the USA team, they never give up. So it will definitely be a tough game," says Hager.
Tonight's first half goals came in the second quarter of the game came when Martina Cavallero did a dramatic dive and on a tight angle hit it low to the keeper's right. New Zealand equalised when local player Harrison scored her second field goal of the tournament.
Argentina had the chance to take the lead just before half time when they were awarded a penalty corner, but New Zealand successfully cleared it.
Early on in the second half, both teams had ample opportunity including a cracking shot from Sian Fremaux, a good set up by Glynn and penalty corners were awarded for both teams, but neither could convert.
In the final ten minutes, the Black Sticks attacked with confidence. They continued to put pressure on Argentina until they were eventually awarded a penalty corner and a clever variation led to Glynn finding the back of the net.
Argentina has brought across a full strength team for the Four Nations with the majority of players silver medallists from the London Olympics. Star player Luciana Aymar (seven times FIH world player of the year) is not due to play until the weekend having only just arrived in New Zealand today.
The Four Nations is an important tournament for the national selectors, who are all in attendance, and using it as an opportunity to test New Zealand's young talent against some top international teams. Following this tournament, a side will be selected for the FIH World League Semi-Final which is to be held in Rotterdam in June and is the new qualification event for the 2014 World Cup.
In the earlier game, the USA got away to a flying start when Torrie Albini scored from a penalty corner in the opening minute. Korea got the equaliser in the 29th minute when Ok Ju Kim scored from a penalty corner variation.
Although USA had the lion's share of possession in the second half, when Korea got the ball they were explosive down the side and at times had USA scrambling in defence. It wasn't until the 64th minute that Lara Parsley, playing only her second international, put one away and secured a win for her side.