The Ice Ferns have lost their first two games at the women's world championships in Auckland but feel they have a better chance of beating their transtasman neighbour tonight.
New Zealand lost to Australia last year in the only international tournament it has played against the side.
The Ice Ferns played Australia twice last week in warm-up games and each country won one of the games.
''The girls are a bit more confident now knowing that they can beat Australia,'' New Zealand coach Corey Down said from Auckland.
But it will not be easy because Australia beat the highly rated Hungarian team 5-3 in its second-round game.
New Zealand lost its second round game to top ranked Italy 6-2.
''I knew it wasn't going to be easy. But we could have done a lot better,'' Down said.
''But our team did work hard last night. They didn't give up. It was just the experience and skills of the Italians that beat us.''
Italy has an International Ice Hockey Federation ranking of 18th and is the highest-ranked team in the six-team, division 2, group A competition.
The European teams have an advantage because they have just completed the northern hemisphere season and are match-fit. New Zealand has not played competition hockey for six months.
''We don't have the budget to get together as much as we would like,'' Down said.
The best player in the Italian team was Beatrix Larger, who scored two of Italy's six goals. ''We tried to take her out to take the pressure off us,'' Down said.
''We marked her closely but she still got past us.''
Italy hammered the Ice Ferns goal with 57 shots during the game. New Zealand's forwards could not penetrate the inner circle and only had 15 shots for its two goals.
The Italian defence was quick to shut down any New Zealand attacks that looked dangerous in the scoring zone.
A feature of the Italian attack was its skill in taking the puck around the New Zealand goal. It continued the circle passing until one of its team was in a position to shoot for goal.
The New Zealand defence eventually tired and Italy netted five goals in a 25-minute period from the 24th minute to the 49th minute to seal the game.
The standout player for the Ice Ferns was goaltender Grace Harrison (15), who conceded six goals from 48 Italian shots at goal.
She was only playing her second international for the Black Ferns.
''She is only a rookie and had another outstanding game,'' Down said. The other player to enhance her reputation for the Ice Ferns was striker Kiri Langford (21), of Gore, who gained the New Zealand team's MVP award. Italy led 1-0 after the first period, 4-1 after the second and added two more goals in the third period.
Caitlin Heale (15), the youngest player in the New Zealand team, ended the game in style by scoring her first international goal. It was also the first international goal for Anna Goulding, who scored at the beginning of the second period.
The only unbeaten teams after two of the five rounds are Italy and Poland, which scored three goals in the last period to beat Slovenia 3-2.
World championships
The scores
Italy ... 6
Beatrix Larger 2, Elena Ballardinie, Frederica Zandegiacomo, Anna de la Forest de Divonne, Carola Saletta
New Zealand ... 2
Anna Goulding, Caitlin Heale.
