Black Sticks captain Stacey Michelson, Samantha Harrison and keeper Grace O'Hanlon, with a heroic effort, proved match winners as New Zealand sneaked past England in their Commonwealth Games semifinal to progress to contest gold.
Nightmares must have been flooding back for the Black Sticks. Four years ago in Glasgow, the Black Sticks lost a penalty shootout against England at this same stage after being locked 1-1 at fulltime.
Two years before that, it was a similar story, when the Black Sticks lost a shootout to the Netherlands in the semifinal of the 2012 London Olympics.
Not this time. They refused to let history and heartbreak repeat.
After the scores were locked 0-0 at fulltime, O'Hanlon saved four attempts, allowing Samantha Harrison and Michelson to step up and send the Black Sticks through.
Michelson, tactically left to last of the five penalty takers, looked calm from the moment she stepped to the top of the circle.
Unlike any of those before her, Michelson took the ball and charged dead straight with determination, flicking the ball over English keeper Madeleine Hinch with clutch precision.
New Zealand will now play the winner of last night's late semifinal between Australia and India in tomorrow's final.
