Santiago, March 1: When USA’s Madeleine Zimmer opened the scoring after four minutes, Ireland had to fight from behind to secure their place in tomorrow’s FIH Hockey Nations Cup Final. The team trailed by a goal until the halfway mark of the second quarter when Niamh Carey won Ireland a penalty stroke that Roisín Upton calmly converted. Talismanic forward Katie Mullan produced the decisive moment with just over a minute left in the third quarter to give Ireland the lead. Some defensive heroics were required in the closing minutes, with Ireland weathering a late USA storm to progress to the final in Santiago. The IRL team with play the winner of today’s second semi-final game in Santiago between Chile and New Zealand.
USA grabbed an early goal just 4 minutes into tie to take the lead, Madeleine Zimmer shooting from the right side of the circle to open the scoring. Ireland looked like they had equalised seconds before the end of the first quarter when Katie Mullan found Mikayla Power in the circle, with the young forward deflecting into the roof of the net, but the goal was chalked off for a dangerous ball from the delivery.
Ireland upped the intensity from the off in the second quarter, producing a number of circle penetrations. The equaliser eventually came from a penalty stroke won by Niamh Carey, her follow up shot from a penalty corner hitting a US defender on the goal-line. Roisín Upton stepped up to calmy convert the opportunity. Ireland almost doubled the lead just moments later when Emily Kealy found the net, but the ball hit Sarah Torrans on the way through so again, the goal didn’t stand.
Ireland continued to create chances in the third quarter, Sarah Torrans shooting just wide from a tight angle. Minutes later Elena Neill played an inch perfect pass to find Katie Mullan in the circle, with work to do. Mullan beat two and snuck the ball past goalkeeper Jennifer Rizzo to give Ireland the lead.
A tense final quarter saw the USA step higher in the press to pile the pressure on. A yellow card for Captain Sarah Hawkshaw and a green for Katie Mullan saw Ireland at a significant player disadvantage, with USA opting to substitute their keeper in the closing minutes. A flurry of late chances, including a close penalty corner gave USA opportunities to level the scoring but again Ireland’s defence held firm. Ireland saw out the game, booking their place in their second FIH Hockey Nations Cup Final in as many years.
Speaking after the match Ireland Women’s Head Coach Gareth Grundie said:
“We went behind early on in the game. In terms of performance, I don’t think we deserved to be behind in the game. We probably should have been a couple ahead by half-time. We’ve been looking to improve game on game. I am very happy with that. The first three quarters is the best we have played with the ball in the tournament so far. Once we went ahead USA had to chase the game.”
On the equalising goal Coach Grundie added:
“Roisín Upton is very calm under pressure, very reliable and it was a very well taken stroke at that.”
On the winner, Grundie added:
“Katie Mullan was a menace the whole match. Aggressive in the press and tenacious going forward. It was a great ball from Elena [Neill] and a very nice finish from Katie.”
On playing with 10 and 9 players, Grundie said:
“We’ve practiced being down a player quite a bit. Even down a player we felt secure. We did a good job in those 10-12 minutes despite not being able to play the way we would have liked. Overall a very pleasing performance.”
On possible opponents for tomorrow’s finals, Grundie said:
“We’ve looked at all the matches and have a game plan to face either Chile or New Zealand, whichever of them win the second semi-final. Very happy to be in the final.”