Wellington: FIH Hockey Pro League 2022/23 action continued from Wellington, as hosts New Zealand faced off against China. The teams could not be separated in the regulation time and for the second game in a row the hosts went into the shoot-outs looking to claim a bonus point. New Zealand managed to score on just one of their 5 attempts, as Liu Ping was outstanding in the goal for China, leading them to a win and a bonus point in the shoot-outs.
New Zealand vs China 1-1 (SO: 1-2)
China started the game in dominant fashion, winning a penalty corner in the second minute. But a poor injection from the short corner saw the chance slip away from the visitors. China kept pushing and had another big chance soon as Yang Haoting found herself completely open at the top of the circle, but her shot on the reverse completely missed the ball and New Zealand got a free out. New Zealand started to grow into the game as the quarter progressed. They had the ball in the goal midway through, but the ball had deflected into the goal off Hope Ralph’s trailing foot and was given as a Chinese free out. Katie Doar combined well with Olivia Merry and the interplay between the two allowed Doar to get a shot away from the top of the circle, but it went wide to the left.
China regained control of the game in the second quarter, launching wave after wave of attacks. They won two penalty corners early. The first one from Gu Bingfeng was well run down by the Black Sticks rushers. China reviewed the long corner believing the deflection had come off a foot, but lost their referral. On the second short corner of the quarter, China opted for a variation with Liu Chencheng deflecting on the far post, but Tessa Jopp was on the line to save New Zealand pulling off a brilliant save with her stick, with the goalkeeper already beaten.
New Zealand came out with much more intensity in the second half and their high press yielded an instant result as Olivia Shannon pounced on a loose ball in the centre of the circle and her strike thudded against the backboard before the Chinese keeper could respond. China were back on level terms almost instantly as debutant Xu Yanan received a great pass from the right, manoeuvred from left to right to make space and her vicious shot was in the goal before the keeper could react. China regained control of the game after the quick equaliser, but couldn’t convert their possession into another goal as the teams headed into the final quarter on level terms.
New Zealand won a flurry of penalty corners in the final quarter, trying to go direct and attempting deflections, but they could not make any of them count as the Chinese defence stayed resolute. China themselves twice had opportunities on counter attacks from the penalty corner defence, but twice Brooke Roberts stepped out from the goal to close down the angle and make saves, as for the second consecutive game, New Zealand headed to a shoot-out to try and win the bonus point.
Read also: Kelsey Bing stars as USA stun New Zealand in shoot-outs
New Zealand’s shoot-out woes continued as they missed 4 out of their 5 attempts, having missed all 4 in their previous game against USA. Liu Ping who made her return to the Chinese team after a long injury layoff was incredible in the shoot-outs, saving 3 attempts and forcing one wide, as China claimed the bonus point.
Li Hong was awarded player of the match and said: “We played well but I think we can play even better than this. We need to work harder till the final minute of the game to get a result in the regulation time.”
FIH Pro League – 19 February 2023
National Hockey Center, Wellington (NZL)
Result: Women’s Match 20
New Zealand 1-1 China (SO: 1-2)
Player of the Game: Li Hong (CHN)
Umpires: Cookie Tan (SGP), Amber Church (NZL), Junko Wagatsuma (JPN-video)
–FIH report and photo
