HOCKEY: The Australian women's hockey team will face 2014 Champions Trophy gold medallists Argentina in the Hawke’s Bay Cup quarter-finals on Thursday, after the girls in green and gold were unable to find the back of the net Tuesday night, resulting in a 0-0 draw with India, in their final pool match of the tournament.

Pleased with the Hockeyroos’ energy throughout the match, Head Coach Adam Commens said afterwards, “One of the things we tried to do after our last match was to have some fluidity through the pitch, and I think we had that tonight as well as creating ourselves some good opportunities. We’re having difficulties in scoring and I’m unsure of why that is. We are training well and we certainly have a range of shots that we can use to finish off with.

“India scrambled really well tonight. Our penalty corner attacks are going to have to be a lot better executed in our next match against Argentina. I give all credit to India tonight, they defended well in our attacking circle.”

The quarter-final on Thursday will reunite the Hockeyroos and Argentinians together, having not played each other since the 2014 Champions Trophy in Mendoza, where the Hockeyroos went down to Argentina in the gold medal final 3-1 on a shoot-out.

Discussing the team’s preparation for their match against Argentina, Commens commented on how they would prepare for what will be a tough quarter-final on Thursday.
“We need to do the same as we did tonight with high energy levels, good pressure and good patience in moving the ball from one side to the other. If we can do this well, we will hopefully open up critical plays in the circle and create ourselves more opportunities against Argentina in the quarter-final.”

The Hockeyroos started the match off well dominating their attacking circle and controlling the majority of the ball possession, however, it was ultimately their execution in the circle that failed them against a robust Indian defence.

India’s chance to lead the way came at the 17th minute mark, after a penalty stroke was called against Australia. Cool, calm and collected, Hockeyroos’ goalkeeper Rachael Lynch quickly denied India of their opportunity, and the score remained 0-0.

The Hockeyroos received two critical chances to make their comeback and to break the match deadlock in a five minute period. With 10 seconds remaining on the clock before the halftime siren and 30 seconds after the halftime break, Jodie Kenny and her prowess drag flick stepped up to the top of the circle, however, couldn’t find the target on these occasions.

Unable to convert their attacking opportunities throughout the 60 minutes of play, Australia and India settled with a 0-0 deadlock on the final siren.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Hockeyroos welcomed back South Australian forward Georgie Parker, who missed out on their second match against China due to an ankle strain during their first pool match of the Hawke’s Bay Cup.

The match was a special milestone for Commonwealth Games gold medallist Brooke Peris, who made her 50th appearance in the Hockeyroos’ bodysuit after debuting for the Australian women in April 2013.

The Hockeyroos will face Argentina in the Hawke’s Bay Cup quarter-final on Thursday.

The final takes place at 1:45pm AEST / 11:45am AWST and will be available to watch live online via the Hawke’s Bay Festival official website.

Pool A

1. China (7 points, 3 games)
2. USA (4 points, 3 games)
3. Australia (3 points, 3 games)
4. India (1 points, 3 games)

Pool B

1. New Zealand (7 points, 3 games)
2. Argentina (6 points, 3 games)
3. Korea (3 points, 3 games)
4. Japan (1 point, 3 games

HOCKEY AUSTRALIA