The Wild lost 5-4 to Canterbury Inferno during the finals series in Dunedin, paying for a slow start in which they fell 4-1 behind.
"There were just some bounces that didn’t go our way and we just didn’t work as hard as we should have," Kellye Nelson says.
"But I’m just proud of the girls for not collapsing because it’s really hard once you fall three goals behind to get back into it.
"And we did that and had a brilliant third and unfortunately couldn’t get that last goal to tie it up."
Nelson says she’s also proud how the team then decided to come out hard next day for their bronze medal game against hosts Dunedin Thunder, which they won 8-0 — "we played how we usually have all season".
Meanwhile, Auckland beat Inferno in the final 2-1.
Nelson says she’s overall very happy with how Wild’s season went.
"We came out second in the round robin and had a great six- to-seven-game streak at the end there."
Nelson was the national league’s top points scorer and Wild MVP while Wild newcomer Caitlin ‘Judy’ Heale was the league’s best forward.
