ARGENTINA 7 BLACK STICKS 4
Samantha Harrison woke up with raging nerves ahead of her Black Sticks' hockey debut at Whangarei against world No2 Argentina, alongside five fellow Northlanders.
"I was pretty nervous - I struggled to keep my food down," she admitted.
However, when Harrison last night slotted the second goal for
New Zealand at ITM Rosvall Stadium, the nerves were gone.
"I was pretty stoked when it went in. It was like watching in slow motion - hoping it would go across the line," Harrison recalled after the match.
Northland's Anna Thorpe also scored a sensational field goal on her home turf within five minutes of being substituted early in the first stanza, making her debut for New Zealand in front of friends and family a memorable one.
Fellow Northland products Ella Gunson and Stacey Michelsen also shone on debut, while Charlotte Harrison played her 58th cap at home.
Having arrived from Buenos Aires only yesterday, the Argentinian women proved why they are one of the best sides in the world.
Their play flowed effortlessly and the pace of their game initially took the Black Sticks by surprise.
"It was pretty intense and a lot harder out there than what I thought it would be ... those girls have amazing skills and we could learn a lot off them," Samantha Harrison said.
A lesson in how to play very good hockey was exactly what Black Sticks coach Mark Hager hoped his team would gain from their 7-4 loss to an Argentinian side possessing five-times world hockey player of the year Luciana Aymar and four other players with more than 100 caps.
"I was pretty disappointed we conceded seven goals - and they were pretty soft goals in the first half," Hager said.
"But you have to give Argentina credit - they will punish you if you let them and we did. They exposed our weaknesses and we learned a lot of lessons.
"We need to be tighter in defence and concede fewer goals."
An estimated crowd of 1800 turned out for the game, the biggest crowd Northland Hockey chief executive Grant McLeod could remember showing up for a match.
The Black Sticks play their second test against Argentina this afternoon from 4pm at ITM Rosvall Stadium before the third and final test at Pukekohe on Monday.
