Hockey: Defence key in crucial match

New Zealand are desperate to win the third women's international against the United States in Ashburton tonight.

New Zealand need a victory to keep the four-match series alive after losing the opening two tests. They lost the first 4-1 in Dunedin on Saturday, then went down 3-1 a day later in Oamaru.

"We're pretty determined to level the series and to do that we'll have to win here," assistant coach Chris Leslie said yesterday.

He said the series was the start of New Zealand's Commonwealth Games campaign and marked the first time the team had got together as an entire unit this year.

With a few new faces in the side it was taking some time for everything to fall into place, although he was happy with the way the team had "gelled" so far.

New Zealand will look to harden their defence, which has already leaked seven goals, as they strive to keep alive their chances of at least sharing the series.

- NZPA