The New Zealand Women have been defeated 2-1 by Germany in their second pool match at the Rio Olympic Games.
It was a solid first quarter from the Kiwis which saw them open the scoring through Petrea Webster, but Germany took hold of the game from there with two unanswered
goals.
The result sees Germany go top of the table in Pool A with two fixtures still to play later in the day - Netherlands vs Korea and Spain vs China.
Head coach Mark Hager said it was a disappointing performance which they will look to learn from ahead of upcoming games.
"We fought hard but in the end our set pieces were poor, they ran us down and we just need to execute better," he said.
"They outplayed us in three of four quarters. We needed to get at least a point out of this game and were now stuck back in the pack which is disappointing."
The Kiwis dominated the opening 10 minutes and were able to turn pressure into a substance when Charlotte Harrison sent a ball across the face of goal for a diving Petrea Webster to deflect past the keeper in the ninth minute.
Germany swung the momentum in the second quarter and created plenty of trouble for the scrambling New Zealand defence.
The Germans equalised in the 22nd minute after Pia-Sophie Oldhafer smashed a shot from the top of the circle which rocketed past goalkeeper Sally Rutherfords pads.
With the score locked up 1-1 at halftime, it was Germany who took control in the second half with Anne Schroeder delivering the winning goal from a 45th minute penalty corner.
New Zealand created several chances as they hunted for an equaliser but couldnt match the desperation and intensity of their opponents.
The New Zealand Women have a day off tomorrow before their match against Spain at 1:00am on Thursday (NZ time), with live coverage on SKY Sport Rio Pop-Up 2.
Meanwhile, the Kiwi Men are looking to secure their first win in Rio when they also do battle with Spain at 1:00am tomorrow morning, live on SKY Sport 4.
New Zealand 1: (Petrea Webster)
Germany 2: (Pia-Sophie Oldhafer, Anne Schroeder)
Halftime: 1-1
- This story has been automatically published using a media release from Hockey NZ
Germany outmuscle NZ Women at Rio Olympics
The New Zealand Women have been defeated 2-1 by Germany in their second pool match at the Rio Olympic Games.
It was a solid first quarter from the Kiwis which saw them open the scoring through Petrea Webster, but Germany took hold of the game from there with two unanswered
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