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Sport | Black Sticks

NZ Black Sticks Women's draw against world champions Netherlands

The New Zealand Women's Black Sticks squad has drawn with the Netherlands at the FIH Champions Trophy in Argentina.

The Netherlands is ranked No.1 in the world and New Zealand hasn't beaten them since 1975, and they're hoping to change that, if they come across them again in the semi-finals.

It was a courageous all-round effort from the Black Sticks Women in their second pool game.

There was still no score at the end of the first quarter, and while the Dutch side had their chance to score at the start of the third, they couldn't nail it.

The Dutch spent a lot of time in their attacking circle and earned a penalty corner after the ball hit Jordy Grant's foot.

The Netherlands utilised this opportunity and scored.

New Zealand came close to scoring, but after a horrendous tackle by the Dutch, they were instead awarded a penalty corner and just missed.

Just minutes after the start of the final quarter, the Black Sticks finally found their time to shine, with their great display of team work leading to this incredible goal by attacker, Olivia Merry.

Despite neither teams scoring for the rest of the match, New Zealand put up a great fight against the world champions, resulting in a 1-1 draw.

Both teams are now leading their pool and New Zealand will go through and play world number five China this coming Wednesday.