Second-half defensive lapses cost the New Zealand women's hockey side as they went down 6-4 to Korea in their second match at the Four Nations tournament in Cordoba, Argentina, today.
It was the second big defeat in consecutive days for the Black Sticks after their 7-3 loss to world No2 Argentina yesterday.
They led 2-0 early in the game against Korea thanks to goals from Gemma Flynn and Samantha Charlton but Korea were dangerous on the counter-attack and went to the break level 3-3.
Korea's speed and skill through the midfield caused headaches for the New Zealand defence and they conceded another three goals in the second spell. The last came as the Black Sticks pushed forward in search of an equaliser wen the score was 5-4 but coach Mark Hager was left lamenting their defensive effort.
"Defensive lapses let us down again today, in particular our inability to defend penalty corners,'' Hager said. "We also needed to make the most of the penalty corners that we were awarded.''
The Black Sticks play Great Britain on Sunday morning (NZT) with little hope of qualifying for the final. They will need to beat Great Britain and then hope Argentina lose their next two games to have a chance of progressing on goal difference.
Their main goal, however, is the Champions Trophy starting in Rosario next weekend after they won a bronze at last year's tournament. Their game against Argentina yesterday was their first since October and the New Zealand players have gone into the Four Nations relatively cold considering it is their off-season.
