The Black Sticks Women have drawn 2-2 with hosts USA today in their fourth game of the three nations tournament in San Diego.
The first half was competitive with both teams playing well and creating chances up front. The USA scored early on but New Zealand quickly pegged two back before half time thanks to an Anita Punt drag flick followed by a field goal from newcomer Jordan Grant.
Debuting earlier in the series, Grant finished off a good attacking move to collect her first ever international goal. Punt's goal was well deserved, she was in outstanding form throughout the whole game with fast attacking runs through the midfield and superb tackling and intercepting.
In the second half, it was a slightly different story for the Black Sticks with the USA dominating large patches of play and winning a lot of the 50/50 contests in the midfield. An unfortunate deflection from a New Zealand defender in the circle gave USA the equaliser about 10 minutes into the second half.
As the clock counted down, the Black Sticks worked hard to hold on and find the winning goal but it was not to be. With last week's game against the USA drawn 3-3, the series win rests on the final game on Tuesday against USA at 9.30am on Tuesday (NZ time).
