The Black Sticks Women drew 1-1 in the second and final test against China at the Taupo Hockey Centre on Tuesday.
A stunning first half goal from North Harbour’s Rhiannon Dennison had the Kiwis in front 1-0 at halftime before Yang Peng responded in the second half to draw the score level.
Head coach Mark Hager said much like last night’s game, the team had good patches but were rusty at times.
“We played a good first half tonight, but had too many turnovers in the second half which really hurt our flow,” Hager said.
“On the whole our team continues to progress and we still have a few players recovering from injury. We’re happy to win the series and are looking forward to our next challenge in Hawke’s Bay.”
The Black Sticks opened tonight with all the momentum, creating plenty of chances with four early penalty corner opportunities.
Dennison got the Kiwis on the scoreboard when she pounced on a penalty corner deflection and drilled a stinging reverse shot into the top of the net.
After the halftime break the Chinese played a much more composed game and managed to find an equaliser early into the period.
The Black Sticks reacted with some good patches of play but couldn’t find a way past China’s strong defence to score a game winner.
The Black Sticks now travel to the Hawke’s Bay Festival of Hockey from April 5-13 which will see the Black Sticks take on Australia, Argentina, Korea, Japan and China.
Black Sticks 1: (Rhiannon Dennison)
China 1: (Yang Peng)
Halftime: Black Sticks 1-0
