Ireland 1-0 New Zealand
Ireland made it two wins from two in their FIH Hockey Women's Nations Cup pool after beating New Zealand 1-0 in Santiago, Chile on Tuesday.
Having overcome Scotland by a 3-0 margin in their Pool B opener in the Chilean capital on Sunday, the Irish side built on that performance two days later.
Naomi Carroll made the decisive contribution against the New Zealanders, scoring the only goal of the game in the second quarter.
The goal came when recent debutant Emily Kealy drove down the right flank and opted to strike a ball into the circle. Her hit took a fortuitous deflection, making its way through to forward Carroll who controlled and volleyed the ball into the back of the net.
Goalkeeper Ayeisha McFerran played her part, denying New Zealand on several occasions early in the second half to maintain her side's lead.
The back-to-back wins mathematically guarantee them a semi-final berth on Saturday, with Ireland top of the Pool B table on six points, three clear of the Kiwis and Scotland.
Gareth Grundie's side will play their final pool match against bottom-placed Korea on Thursday at 8pm.
"A good step forward from our game on Sunday. We need to improve as we head toward the final pool game with Korea," Ireland head coach Grundie said.
"We want to continue to grow. It's still early days and we have to keep improving. It's always a close and tough encounter with New Zealand and we'll take the three points and be happy with it."
Ireland: Ayeisha McFerran; Michelle Carey, Roisin Upton, Niamh Carey, Sarah Hawkshaw (c), Kathryn Mullan, Sarah Torrans, Elena Neill, Ellen Curran, Caoimhe Perdue, Christina Hamill.
Sub: Elizabeth Murphy (GK), Sarah McAuley, Hannah McLoughlin, Naomi Carroll, Charlotte Beggs, Mikayla Power, Emily Kealy.
