Jillaroos win bronze at junior worlds

With seven NSWIS scholarship holders and a host of other NSW athletes in the squad, the Jillaroos, Australia’s junior women’s hockey team, have won the bronze at the Junior World Cup in Santiago, Chile.

In a tense tussle with Spain, that ended in a 1-1 draw at full-time, NSWIS scholarship holder and captain Mariah Williams scored the first goal of the shoot-out and the Jillaroos went on to claim the shoot-out 3 – 1 and in doing so won their first World Cup medal since 2001.

Spain got off to a fantastic start, scoring an early lead with a penalty corner goal going in only six minutes into the game, but skipper Williams helped steady the ship and Australia struck back minutes before half time for the only two regulation time goals of the match.

Jillaroos head coach Tim White was thrilled with the performance.

“The bronze medal is a fantastic result and reward for lots of hard work and commitment by all of the athletes and many staff both here in Chile and back at home,” White said.
“We were really proud of the team’s performance today. Spain started well and scored an early goal. We needed to compose and start to play our game. By halftime we were back in the contest, and we reminded the girls that we have finished all the games well.
“The second half was played on our terms although we couldn’t score. The girls showed skill and belief during the shootout and we are all thrilled with the win.”
You can watch the Jillaroos v Spain match in full by heading to Livestream.com 
Argentina defeated the Netherlands 4-2 in the gold medal match.
Jillaroos squad v Spain
Kristina Bates (Port Melbourne, VIC)
Madison Fitzpatrick (Cabarita, NSW)
Laura Gray (Goulburn, NSW) *ACTAS scholarship holder
Rebecca Greiner (Bundaberg, QLD)
Greta Hayes (Maroubra, NSW)
Kaitlin Nobbs (Newington, NSW)
Mikaela Patterson (Blackbutt, NSW)
Aleisha Power (Clackline, WA)
Grace Stewart (Gerrigong, NSW)
Sophie Taylor (Camberwell, VIC)
Mariah Williams (Parkes, NSW)

Used Substitutes 
Savannah Fitzpatrick (Cabarita, NSW)
Kate Hanna (Constitution Hill, NSW)
Ambrosia Malone (Molendinar, QLD)
Karri Somerville (Kensington, WA)
Michaela Spano (Toorak Gardens, SA)
Renee Taylor (Brisbane, QLD)

Unused Substitutes
Rene Hunter (Wentworth Point, NSW)

Story and Pic with Hockey Australia