U21 WOMEN MOVE INTO CLASSIFICATION MATCHES AT THE WORLD CUP
The New Zealand U21 Women have placed 4th in their pool after a tough campaign at the 2025 FIH Hockey Women’s Junior World Cup in Santiago, Chile. New Zealand faced USA, Uruguay and Korea during their campaign, ending pool play with two loses and one draw.
Although being unsuccessful in qualifying for the quarterfinals, the fight is not over for New Zealand. The U21 Women will play three more matches to playoff for 17-24 place.
MATCH ONE: New Zealand opened the tournament with a tough clash against the USA that ended in their first loss (2-5). Greer Findlay put the points on the board for New Zealand with two outstanding field goals.
MATCH TWO: The second pool match was a hard-fought battle against Uruguay in the Santiago heat. All New Zealand’s goals were scored off penalty corners, the first two by Greer Findlay and Niamh McKenzie. In the 59th minute, with New Zealand down by one goal, Captain Riana Pho scored a stunning goal off a crucial penalty corner, equalising the score at 3-3. The match ended in a draw.
MATCH THREE: In the final pool match with New Zealand sitting 3rd in their pool, it was a must-win match to secure a spot in the 9-16 playoff bracket. The U21 Women met Korea (Ranked 4th in the pool) in their final pool match. The first half was scoreless with neither side being able to put points on the board, regardless of many circle entries and goal attempts. In the 3rd quarter, New Zealand came flying out of the gate with Mezzy Surridge scoring an outstanding goal in the first minute. Less than 15 minutes later, Surridge did it again with another goal, bringing the score to 2-0. However, in the 4th quarter, the game slipped away as Korea got through our defences with 3 goals, taking the win. The final score was 3-2 to Korea.
Head coach, Verity Sharland is proud of the team's effort in the pool match stage, “We have been creating enough chances to finish in a higher position than we find ourselves in. However, with a tough pool and the need to make improvements in both circles, we are determined to finish our Junior World Cup campaign proud of our performance by playing consistently well.”
New Zealand now take on Austria in the first round of classification matches within the 17-24 placings. The team will look to push hard to dominate this stage after a disappointing pool play. The match against Austria will be live on the Watch.Hockey app at 5.30am NZT 8th December.
Match One vs USA (2-5)
New Zealand Goal Scorers:
41’ Greer Findlay – Field Goal
52’ Greer Findlay – Field Goal
Match Two vs Uruguay (3-3)
New Zealand Goal Scorers:
15’ Greer Findlay – Penalty Corner
21’ Nimah Mckenzie – Penalty Corner
59’ Riana Pho – Penalty Corner
Match Three vs Korea (2-3)
New Zealand Goal Scorers:
31’ Mezzy Surridge – Field Goal
45’ Mezzy Surridge – Field Goal