They meet Japan for their final round-robin game of the Summer of Hockey tournament, with a win guaranteeing their spot in tomorrow’s final at the McMillan Centre.
The Black Sticks have been in good form this tournament - especially considering they had not been together for four months before linking up in Dunedin - which includes the United States of America, Japan and a New Zealand A side.
The world No 10 Black Sticks came up just short 2-1 against the United States, ranked No 11, in their opener on Wednesday.
They responded with a 4-1 victory against the New Zealand A side on Thursday.
Japan have also split their games: they beat New Zealand A 4-2 in their opener and lost 4-0 to the United States.
Black Sticks midfielder Josie Murray backed her side to come out on top against the world No 12.
"I think we just have to keep doing what we’ve been doing so far," Murray said.
"We had a good start against the USA, but they just got us in the final minutes.
"But I think we have lots of opportunities, but we just have to score the goals. I’m confident we will do that [today].
"It’s a nice test for us to keep building on what we’ve been doing until now so looking forward to that."
The United States, who play New Zealand A today, set the platform this tournament and have already booked their spot in tomorrow’s final.
Their win against Japan was their first shut-out of the Asian side since the Hockey World League semifinal in 2017.
United States coach David Passmore was happy to come through unscathed, but said there was still room for improvement after the Japan game.
"While pleased with the outcome and to score four unanswered goals, I was disappointed with our first half performance as it lacked energy and intensity both on and off the ball," Passmore told USA Field Hockey.
"It showed character to turn that around and our set pieces were well executed."
The Summer of Hockey tournament has attracted a steady crowd of die-hard hockey fans to the turf, lapping up the first time the Black Sticks have played in Dunedin since 2007.
It wraps up with the playoffs tomorrow.
New Zealand A will meet the loser of today’s Japan v Black Sticks clash in the third-fourth playoff at 2pm.
That will be followed by the United States playing either Japan or the Black Sticks in the gold medal clash at 4pm.
The tournament has been solid preparation for the teams ahead of the Hockey World Cup later this year.
