The U.S. women’s field hockey team played the first of two friendlies last night against the New Zealand Black Sticks in their January tour.
And as we posited when the roster was released, there were a lot of new faces in the lineup, with squad numbers in the high 30s, reserve goalkeeper Kealsea Reeb starting and playing pretty well, and a number of players given key responsibilities.
To me, two players stood out in yesterday’s 1-0 loss. One was forward Katie Dixon, the UNC graduate, who was an agitator in the circle and was seemingly all over the place, tormenting the New Zealand backline, though she was unfortunate to not have a scoring change go in.
Another person who showed out for me was Caroline Ramsey, the Cornell graduate who prepped at Summit Oak Knoll (N.J.). Ramsey was given the responsibility of dragflicking on attack penalty corners, something which is unheard of when it comes to a player’s international debut.
Last night’s contest was also a taut, tense contest which had an interesting pace and rhythm — the pace and rhythm of a grand final. Yes, it was a friendly, but these two teams are tied at the hip when it comes to recent history.
New Zealand, a few years ago, was the team that gave up its space in the FIH Pro League allowing the United States to compete in the second season of that world competition, whereupon the U.S. was itself relegated to the lower-level FIH Nations Cup.
This year’s Nations Cup will take place beginning February 25th, and the States will take on pool matches with Canada, Chile, and Japan, keeping a wary eye on how the other pool will shake out. Only the winner of this tournament will take part in the FIH Pro League.
I have a feeling that, if the two sides meet in the Nations Cup, the game could, like yesterday, turn on one tactic or one miscue.
And that’s the nature of international field hockey.