Mariah William's perseverance and Jodie Kenny's penalty prowess powered the Hockeyroos to a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over China to tie the series in Sydney on Easter Monday.
Having fallen behind against the run of play to Xi Xiayun's second quarter penalty corner, Williams hit back early in the third, converting at the second attempt following a good save from Li Dongxiao.
Zhang Xiaoxue's instant response at the other end put the visitors back in front but when Brooke Peris' goal-bound shot was illegally blocked by the body of a Chinese defender, Kenny stepped up to flick home the resulting penalty stroke and level the match 2-2.
And it was Kenny who would ultimately help the Hockeyroos take victory, as she has done so often of late, with a penalty corner conversion four minutes from full time.
Having seen previous efforts repeatedly charged down by the Chinese defence, she changed position at the top of the circle allowed her to flick across goal into the far side of the net to make it 3-2.
Hockeyroos Coach Adam Commens was pleased with the improvement his side showed over the three match series.
"I thought we improved again today. There was some really encouraging signs particularly in the second half. Our physicality and our ability to run a game out was excellent.
"I thought we really dominated them, particularly in those last two quarters, and we deserved to get the victory.
A couple of details we need to tidy up - I think it shows we're a little bit rusty in our gameplay - but if we tidy them up it's a good performance and something that starts the year off well."
The series was the Hockeyroos' first on Australian turf outside of Western Australia in more than two years
The Hockeyroos now head to New Zealand for the Hawke's Bay Cup, an invitational eight-nation tournament featuring New Zealand, Argentina, USA, China, Japan, Korea and India. Their first match is against USA on Saturday afternoon.
Share
