Today, members of the U.S. women’s senior national field hockey began their departures to New Zealand, where they will be playing practice and a handful of international matches during the Southern Hemisphere’s summertime.
It will be a good runout for this group, many of whom will represent the States in the third FIH Nations Cup in Chile. Today, we got a look at the pools and schedule for that tournament. The United Eagles will be in Pool A along with Canada, Japan, and Chile.
The problem, of course, is the fact that Pool B includes some really good sides in Korea, New Zealand, Ireland, and Scotland. The United States would need two wins in pool play in order to pretty much guarantee a spot in the semifinal round, where the team would need two wins in order to make the next round of the FIH Pro League.
Of course, what’s interesting is that if New Zealand and the United States play in that final match on March 2, it would match up two teams which were at the heart of a situation in 2023 when New Zealand’s hockey federation withdrew the Black Sticks teams in both genders from the FIH Pro League.
The U.S. played the following Pro League season and was relegated to the Nations Cup pool after one win in 16 games. The winner of the 2025 FIH Nations Cup will replace the last-place team in the Pro League, the identity of which will not be known until next June.