Hockeyroos take third at Hawkes Bay

The Australian women’s hockey team have signed off from the Hawkes Bay with a bronze medal after a penalty shootout win over the USA.

Featuring five NSWIS athletes, the Hockeyroos found their way into a bronze medal playoff after two wins, three draws and one loss, including two draws with the USA.

The bronze medal match continued in the same way as the previous tussles with the Americans, with the Hockeyroos going up at the 29th-minute mark through Kate Hanna before the USA levelled things half an hour later.

With scores tied 1-1 at full-time the Australians eventually took the 3-2 win in the shootout, securing bronze.“I thought we had a really pleasing first half; we lost our way a little bit and reverted to some old habits in the second half. Chasing consistency over 60 minutes is something that we’ll really be working on in the next few months.

“I thought we had a really pleasing first half; we lost our way a little bit and reverted to some old habits in the second half. Chasing consistency over 60 minutes is something that we’ll really be working on in the next few months,” coach Paul Gaudoin said to Hockey Australia after the match.

“It was a great learning tournament for us overall, we have a new style of play which we’re working on and everyone is working hard to learn that style and apply what we’ve talked about. So, overall it was a great first tournament as a new squad.”

The NSWIS athletes in the squad were Hanna, Jocelyn Bartram, Kaitlin Nobbs, Mariah Williams and Emily Smith.

The Hockeyroos will next compete in the World League Semi-final, in Brussels in June.