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The Black Sticks women opened their Nations Cup tournament with a 3-1 win over Korea in Auckland on Monday night.
New Zealand built early momentum and secured a penalty corner after just five minutes, but could not convert.
A second set piece in the 10th minute provided the opening for the hosts, with Kaitlin Cotter scoring through a powerful flick to the right.
Both teams prodded the opposition defence, but no further goals were scored in the second quarter as the score remained 1-0 heading into the halftime break.
Just 30sec into the second half, Korea equalised through a penalty corner goal by Jiyun Choi.
Both teams pressed for a lead and New Zealand found it first through a Hannah Gravenall penalty corner. The Black Sticks added a third goal within seconds, capitalising on a defensive breakdown by Korea to launch a quick counter-attack.
It was finished off by Hannah Cotter to seal the win and three crucial points for New Zealand.
‘‘I think overall the game went quite well for us,’’ Kaitlin Cotter said.
‘‘We lost momentum a little bit in the second half, but overall happy with the result, and we’ll make sure to focus a bit more on the channel defending going forward in the tournament.’’
The Black Sticks were playing Chile last night.
In the other Monday games, India beat the United States 3-2, Japan beat Uruguay 3-1 and Chile beat France 2-0. — Allied Media