Hockey: Black Sticks Women into final

The Black Sticks celebrate their second goal. Photo / Getty

The Black Sticks Women will play for a gold medal at the FIH World League Final after defeating Germany 2-1 in this morning's semifinal.

New Zealand played an outstanding game against a strong German side, who were fresh off their quarterfinal win over Australia.

First half goals from Kirsten Pearce and Liz Thompson proved crucial for the Kiwis, while goalkeeper Sally Rutherford was superb under immense pressure.

It's the second time New Zealand have beaten the Germans at the tournament following their 3-1 result in pool play.

The Black Sticks now progress to the final where they will go up against the winner of the Argentina vs China semifinal at 11:00am tomorrow.

Black Sticks captain Anita Punt said it was another proud effort from her side who now have the chance to win the title.

"It's an awesome feeling. It was a really hard battle out there but to hold on and come away with the win is amazing for New Zealand," she said.

"They came out hard, especially in the second half, but credit to our defence we held them out well and never gave up."

Germany were hot on attack in the opening stages but the Kiwis looked equally composed in defence.

The Black Sticks were first to light up the scoreboard when Gemma Flynn intercepted a terrible back pass and flicked over the sliding goalkeeper for Kirsten Pearce to slam home into an open goal.

New Zealand kept creating chances throughout the first half and extended the lead five minutes out from halftime with Liz Thompson sending a penalty corner flick into the bottom corner.

Germany responded after the break with Eileen Hoffmann tapping in the deflection from a penalty corner save by Sally Rutherford.

The Black Sticks were tested in defence in the fourth quarter but refused to relent. Germany won a penalty corner with just 12 seconds on the clock but couldn't force the equaliser.

BLACK STICKS 2 (Kirsten Pearce, Liz Thompson)
GERMANY 1 (Eileen Hoffmann)
Halftime: 2-0