Islamabad (Sports Desk): New Zealand secured a 3-1 victory over Scotland, overturning an early deficit to clinch a semi-final spot. Ireland continued their dominant run with a 2-0 win against Korea, maintaining their perfect defensive record in the group stage. Chile topped Pool B after a 3-1 win over the USA, capitalizing on penalty corners, while Japan edged Canada 2-1 with a late goal.
New Zealand 3-1 Scotland: To start the final day of the FIH Hockey Women’s Nations Cup, New Zealand finished out the final group match with a 3-1 win over Scotland. Scotland began the match with a bang scoring in just the 2nd minute. Scotland hung on to their lead for just over twenty minutes, however New Zealand proved to be more clinical in the circle.
Korea 0-2 Ireland; Korea played as a strong defensive unit for much of the first half, not allowing many chances for The Green Army. However, with a charging run into the circle, a fake a shot, and a smooth finish through the keepers’ legs, Sarah Torrans scored Ireland’s first goal of the match in the 25th minute.
The second half proved much of the same, Korea played well defensively but struggled to put many scoring attempts together. In the 51st minute Ireland sealed the deal with an open shot from Christina Hamill at the top of the circle and a reaching touch by Mikayla Power to deflect it into the top of the net.
Chile 3-1 USA: It was a story of penalty corners in the third match of the day, with Chile scoring three penalty corners, allowing them to claim top of Pool B on home soil. The USA’s performance was a frustrating one, with a penalty corner goal disallowed in the first half which would have tied the game and potentially changed the momentum.
The second half brought more pressure from the Americans, but they failed to convert their chances. Another penalty corner was denied, and a penalty stroke miss defined the USA’s second half. While Maria Maldonado managed to score Chile’s third goal of the night on the fourth consecutive penalty corner, providing a cherry on top of her 100th match with Las Diablas.
Japan 2-1 Canada: The first half of this match proved to be a stalemate, with neither Japan nor Canada earning a spot on the scoresheet. Canada’s defensive strength was led by Anna Mollenhauer and Sarah Goodman who played huge roles in the first half shut out. The Cherry Blossoms did look to be the better team offensively, as they created multiple circle entries and earned several penalty corners near the end of the half.
The Canadian Wolfpack had an unfortunate start to the second half with only nine players on the field due to a yellow and a green card. Japan took advantage of this opportunity by opening the scoring on a penalty corner. Canada quickly responded with their first goal of the tournament by Kathleen Leahy just minutes later. At the very start of the fourth quarter Rui Takashima blazed through the Canadian defence with a zigzagging run setting up an open goal tap in for Hiroka Murayama to win the match for Japan 2-1.
