Jillaroos Through to Quarters after Chile Win

The Jillaroos have made the quarter finals of the Junior World Cup in Chile following a 2 – 1 win over the host nation in their final pool stage match.

The Jillaroos got off to a fantastic start with a penalty corner conversion giving them an early lead following a superb flick from Renee Taylor from the corner injection from Savannah Fitzpatrick.

Twenty-two minutes in, Chile scored an equaliser through a penalty corner goal to captain Denise Krimerman, who flicked straight past the Australian defence and into the right-hand corner of the net.

The Jillaroos knew they needed a win or draw to progress to the quarter final stage and began the second half brightly in pursuit of that goal.

Their attack pressed the Chilean team, and in the 55th minute of play, Jillaroos captain and Rio Olympian Mariah Williams ran the ball the entire length of the pitch before flicking it straight into goal from the top centre of the circle.

The wonder goal from Williams sealed the Jillaroos’ victory and progression through to a knockout match up with Belgium in the quarters.

Commenting on the match, Williams said: “That was a really intense game tonight – the Chilean fans are brilliant! But going into the quarter finals we have to start well from the beginning, that’s how we will improve on our performances so far.”

Western Australian athletes Aleisha Power and Karri Somerville are members of the Jillaroos squad, whilst WAIS women’s hockey program coach Jeremy Davy is part of the Australian coaching staff in Chile.

The Jillaroos take on Belgium in their quarter final clash from 7:00am Perth time on Thursday December 1.

-HockeyAus