The New Zealand women's hockey team have bounced back from Thursday's six-nil drubbing by Australia to beat their trans-Tasman rivals two-nil in Auckland last night.
Black Sticks hockey player Jennifer Storey in action against Australia 2016. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The Black Sticks scored both their goals in the second quarter, the first through striker Olivia Merry in the 24th minute followed by Rachel McCann's goal just minutes later.
Head coach Mark Hager said the pain of game one helped spark a resurgence in the group.
"The embarrassment from the other night I think was enough to turn it around for us. We were more aggressive and put pressure on their back four which set us up nicely in the first half," he said.
"We know we were better than that and thankfully we rebounded and showed that tonight, so we need to come out again tomorrow and play well to make sure we stay on the right track."
Earlier, the Black Sticks Men were beaten 2-1 by the Kookaburras in what was a high quality contest from start to finish.
World number one Australia opened the scoring in the 17th minute when Daniel Beale ran across the face and slipped a ball past goalkeeper George Enersen.
Five minutes out from halftime the Kookaburras extended their advantage to two goals after being awarded a penalty stroke for a judged obstruction in the circle, which Chris Bausor flicked into the roof of the net.
The Black Sticks struck back soon after halftime with young striker Kim Kingstone slotting a finish on a pass from Jacob Smith.
New Zealand fought hard to find an equaliser throughout the remainder of the second half but Australia's defence held firm.
New Zealand men's hockey coach Colin Batch. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Head coach Colin Batch said while another loss was disappointing, his side made a big improvement from game one on Thursday.
"I think we put in a much better performance than game one. They were chasing us more and the added value of that was we created a lot more chances," he said.
"The new players have coped well and I think by in large have shown they can foot it at this level and are playing with confidence.
"We're coming for a win tomorrow there's no doubt about it. We've shown some progress and we want to carry that over into game three for sure."
Both the Black Sticks Men and Women line up again this afternoon.
-RNZ
