Hockeyroos Pay Penalty for Late Lapse

The Hockeyroos have missed out on a bronze medal at the Champions Trophy in England after losing a penalty shootout to the USA following a 2-2 draw in regular time.

The Hockeyroos had opened a two goal lead in the opening half and were within three minutes of holding on for bronze, before USA’s Katie Bam sent the match to a decider when she scored a 57th minute field goal to level scores.

The shootout saw both goalkpeepers on top, but a first up conversion from Melissa Gonzalez proved critical with neither side able to add further damage to the scoreboard, meaning the US claimed a 1-0 win for third place.

Head coach Adam Commens admitted the result was a missed opportunity, with the Hockeyroos allowing their opponent back into the contest.

“It’s a disappointing result for us. I thought we dominated the game for the first three quarters, and then our last quarter was poor,” he said.

“We started making decisions that we hadn’t been making all game, people not presenting for the ball and we went away from the objectives that we had for the game.

“I think that the frustrating thing about it is that you put in a great performance, and then you let a team into it. I’ve something that I’ve spoken about throughout this tournament that we need to be better at and today unfortunately we weren’t as clinical as I would have liked in that last quarter,” Commnes said.

WAIS scholarship athlete Kathryn Slattery was a member of the Hockeyroos’ squad for the Champions Trophy, with the Hockeyroos expected to announce an Olympic squad for Rio in early July.

Argentina claimed a record seventh Champions Trophy title when they defeated the Netherlands 2-1 in the final.