Penalties loss and two wins contribute to overall positive result for Intercontinental Tournament

Quarters: 3-1, 3-5, 5-3, 2-1

Extra Man: NZL: 4/7. JPN: 1/8.

Pens: NZL: 2/2. JPN: 1/3.

Teams: NEW ZEALAND: Brooke Millar, Nicole Lewis (1), Kelly Mason, Hannah Klein, Simone Lewis (1), Sarah Landry (1), Miranda Chase (1), Ricci Ferigo, Emma Stoneman (1), Liana Dance (4), Kirsten Hudson (2), Jasmine Myles (2), Katherine Curnow. Head Coach: Attila Biro.

JAPAN: Rikako Miura, Chiaki Sakanoue (2), Yuri Kazama, Shino Magariyama (1), Moe Nakata, Ayaka Takahashi, Yumi Nakano (2), Mitsuki Hashiguchi (2), Kana Hosoya, Tsubasa Mori (2), Midori Sugiyama, Kotari Suzuki (1), Yoko Umeda. Head Coach: Hideo Kato.

Katherine Curnow blocks a penalty

Match Report:

New Zealand collected a second win for the week and finished seventh with all the front-running against Japan. Japan drew level at 1-1, 6-6, 7-7 and 9-9, but could not take the lead.

The first half was interesting from the fact that the Kiwis won the first quarter and Japan the second. Too many soft goals were scored at both ends where defence would have avoided the scoreboard working too hard.

The goals came thick and fast in the third as New Zealand regained the advantage and went to the final quarter two ahead. There were some excellent goals, none better than Liana Dance’s backhand goal at centre forward after a high, lobbing pass from Jasmine Myles. Dance has just turned 17 and was a revelation at the tournament while she and Myles were always in the scoring mix during the week.

Dance scored her fourth of the match and 10th goal of the week for 12-10 at 2:41. The winning move came when Nicole Lewis drew a penalty at 1:05 and Miranda Chase, who was the programme and poster cover girl for the event, converted for 13-10 at 1:05. Both teams used their No 13 goalkeepers in the first half and Japan kept Yuko Umeda in for the third quarter before bringing in Rikako Miura for the final eight minutes.

Brooke Millar (3rd from left) - Tournament Team Goalkeeper

New Zealand No 1 Brooke Millar, named to the Tournament Team, made an incredible number of saves during the week.

Attila Biro (NZL) — Head Coach

“All together it’s a positive result. We’ve won twice and drawn once against Brazil and that’s great after one and a half years out of international water polo. The game was painful and tough, but I respect the team for stepping up again and again when Japan fought back.”

Liana Dance (NZL) – on playing first international tournament

“It was an honour to represent my country at a senior level. I’ve got a lot of hard work to do before playing at the World Champs. It’s been an amazing experience to play against some of the top teams in the world.”