Vantage Black Sticks Women ease past PNG

The Vantage Black Sticks Women have made light work of Papua New Guinea with a 33-0 result in their opening game at the Oceania Cup in Sydney.

The Kiwis stormed out to a 20-0 lead at halftime and added another 13 goals in the second half with seven of those in the final eight minutes.

Samantha Harrison bagged a huge haul of nine goals while Rachel McCann and Olivia Merry scooped seven each and Shiloh Gloyn grabbed a hat-trick.

Co-captain Samantha Charlton celebrated her 200th test cap during the match and topped it off with a goal of her own.

Assistant coach Sean Dancer said the game provided his side the chance to focus on some key areas going forward.

"We really focussed on some basic elements of our game and refining those, and the girls did that really well in the attacking third," Dancer said.

"Papua New Guinea tried their best and we really respect them for coming out and challenging themselves with an eye to developing further.

"We now look ahead to Australia in what will be a tough game but we are backing ourselves and certainly know we have the skills and talent to get the result."

The Vantage Black Sticks Women go up against the Hockeyroos at 7pm (NZ time) on Saturday while the Kiwi Men open their Oceania Cup campaign versus the Kookaburras at 10pm tomorrow.

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VANTAGE BLACK STICKS: 33 (Samantha Harrison 9, Rachel McCann 7, Olivia Merry 7, Shiloh Gloyn 3, Liz Thompson 2, Sam Charlton, Amy Robinson, Rose Keddell, Natasha Fitzsimons, Kim Tanner)

PAPUA NEW GUINEA: 0

Halftime: New Zealand 20-0



- This story has been automatically published using a media release from Hockey NZ