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FIH PRO LEAGUE-Olivia Merry breaks New Zealand goalscoring record
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The Vantage Black Sticks Women
have rebounded in the best possible fashion with a comprehensive
4-1 win over Belgium. Olivia Merry capped a great weekend with a
massive four-goal effort that has now taken her to being the
all-time leading goal scorer for the Vantage Black Sticks Women.
Belgium stunned the Vantage Black
Sticks Women in the opening match of the FIH Hockey Pro League.
They were looking to continue their winning streak going when the
two sides met for the second time.
New Zealand came out of the blocks
firing and went close on several occasions early in the match,
unfortunately for the Kiwis they couldn’t get the needed touch to
put themselves in front in the contest.
The Kiwis continued to apply
significant pressure on the Belgians and were rewarded with three
penalty corners in the first quarter to the Belgians 0.
Despite the weight of possession
in favour of the Black Sticks, it was the away side that got on the
scoreboard first when they pressed the New Zealand team
aggressively, this forced the New Zealand team into a turnover deep
in their half that found a deflection past Brooke Roberts.
For the second time in two days,
it was the Belgians who played from in front in the match.
As the first half wound down the
Belgium side started to play with attacking flair, they managed to
string several passes together as they went close to extending
their lead.
Early in the third quarter, the
Belgium team couldn’t clear their defensive zone. Black Sticks star
striker Olivia Merry took advantage of this to deflect in her first
goal of the match and tie the contest up.
Moments later the Vantage Black
Sticks earned themselves a penalty corner. This time the Kiwis
managed to get a clear shot off as Olivia Merry would score her
second with a shot that went straight into the corner of the goal.
New Zealand was able to increase
their lead early in the fourth quarter when Olivia Merry tied the
New Zealand record of 105 goals with her third goal of the match.
The win was sealed in the final
minutes of the game when Merry had her fourth goal of the contest
after a great pass from Gemma McCaw found its way through several
defenders and took a deflection off Olivia Merry. Her fourth goal
took Merry past Anita McLaren for the all-time record of 106 goals
for the Vantage Black Sticks.
Vantage Black Sticks Women 4 (Olivia Merry 31, 35, 51, 55 min) Belgium 1 (Abi Raye) |
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