Ireland will play the United States in the semi-finals of the FIH Nations Cup in Chile on Saturday evening, after topping their pool with three wins from three games.
The prize for the winners of the tournament is a place in next season’s Pro League.
It was an especially impressive pool display by the Irish defence and goalkeepers Ayeisha McFerran and Elizabeth Murphy, who kept three clean sheets in their wins over Scotland, New Zealand and South Korea. McFerran, who played in the first two games, only just returned to the squad after injury ruled her out for a year.
Mikayla Power has stood out too in her first senior international tournament. The UCD player marked her debut with a goal in the 3-0 win over Scotland, and got Ireland’s second in their 2-0 defeat of South Korea. In between, Catholic Institute’s Naomi Carroll got the only goal of the game against New Zealand.
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The States had to settle for the runners-up spot in pool A after losing their last game to Chile, and now stand between Ireland, under new coach Gareth Grundie, and a place in Sunday’s final.
Chile meet New Zealand in the second of the semi-finals – the Kiwis being the tournament’s top-ranked side at 10th in the world, one place above Ireland.
Ireland’s semi-final on Saturday (push-back 7pm Irish time) will be streamed live on Spórt TG4’s YouTube channel.
