A Brooke Neal double has lifted New Zealand to a 2-0 win over Australia at the women's hockey World League Semi Final tournament in Brussels.
The Kiwis dominated across the turf with close to 60 per cent of possession but it was an outstanding defensive effort which set up the win.
They shut down the Australian attack, leaving the world No.4 Hockeyroos without a shot on goal for the entire match.
In the process, the Black Sticks recorded their second clean sheet of the tournament after seeing off Spain 1-0 in their opening match three days ago.
Hockeyroos head coach Paul Gaudoin said he was "extremely disappointed" with how his side played.
"I thought we won the ball back from them a lot pretty comfortably but then we just gave it back to them too easily through almost unforced turnovers.
"Our basic skills clearly aren't good enough and I think we're in a position where we will have to work very hard now. We need to prepare very, very well for Spain."
Neal's penalty corner drag flick goals in the first and fourth quarters sealed the win, which leaves world No.5 New Zealand top of Pool B with six points.
She opened the scoring in the 15th minute, rocketing a drag flick into the back of the net before delivering her second of match in the 57th minute with her flick deflecting off a defender's stick and into the goal.
"It's always good to get one up over the Aussies and every time we play them we go out with a winning mindset," Neal said.
The Hockeyroos next play the Spaniards on Sunday at 10pm AEST.
The top four finishers at the 10-nation tournament will qualify for the World League Final in Auckland in November. The Black Sticks are already guaranteed a place as hosts.
