The Canterbury Flames kept their fans on the edge of their seats tonight but did not disappoint, edging out the Force by one goal to win a place in the national league final.
In front of a sellout crowd at the North Shore Events Centre, the Flames beat the home favourites 44-43 in a bruising encounter.
Their final opponents will be decided in Sunday's second semifinal between defending champions the Southern Sting and Capital Shakers in Invercargill.
The Force defence kept the Flames off the scoreboard until nearly five minutes into the game.
But a series of bad passes let the Flames back into the game to draw level at 9-9.
The Force were two up going into the second quarter and lead 22-21 at halftime.
In a match where few players didn't hit the deck, the real battle for both sides was getting the ball into their shooters.
The Force managed to hold on to a one-goal lead going into the last quarter when Force coach Maria Lynch made the only change in the game, bringing Kate Dowling on at goal defence for Lorna Suafoa.
But the last quarter fell apart for the Force. The Flames pounced on North Harbour's missed goals and misdirected passes.
With a minute to go, the Flames led 44-42, Force goal shoot Daneka Wipiiti nailed a goal to take the score to 44-43 but missed one moments later.
It will be the third time the Flames have made the final in the last three years. They have lost to the Sting the last two.
For the Force, Wipiiti got 32 of 41 attempts on goal, while goal attack Teresa Tairi managed 11 of 16.
For the Flames, goal shoot Angela Evans nailed 23 of 31 shots, and goal attack Colling bagged 21 out of 23.
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