Elizabeth Yeager converted a penalty corner in the second half as United States eked out a fighting solitary goal victory over New Zealand to storm into the semi-finals of the FIH Women's Olympic Qualifier with an all-win record in Ranchi on Tuesday.
Yeager found the back of net in the 17th minute from USA's third penalty corner in their final Pool B match.
New Zealand started on a positive note and made some good moves to enter the American circle initially but lost the momentum as the match progressed.
After having weathered the early pressure from the Black Sticks, the American got their footing into the match and secured their first penalty corner in the eighth minute, only to be denied by the side bar.
Minutes later, USA earned another set-piece but it didn't materialise into a goal.
The Americans kept up the pressure in the second quarter and took the lead two minutes into the quarter when Yeager perfectly converted their third penalty corner.
Trailing by a goal, New Zealand came out all guns blazing after the crossover and played high press hockey to trouble the American defence.
They secured two quick penalty corners and from the second sounded the board but the goal was disallowed because of obstruction.
Such was the desperation that a minute-and-a-half from the end of the third quarter, the Black Sticks pulled off their goalkeeper for an extra field player and the move came close to backfiring.
With no goalkeeper in place, the Americans applied pressure on the Kiwi backline and managed to find the net through Abigail Tamer but the goal didn't stand for obstruction.
New Zealand got plenty of opportunities to draw level in the form of five more penalty corners in the final three minutes but their execution was not up to the mark.
The New Zealand women played their hearts out in the final two quarters but lacked in finishing.
USA, thus, topped Pool B with a perfect record from three games and will take on Japan in the semifinals on Thursday.
New Zealand finished with three points and will now expect hosts India to lose against Italy to progress to the knockout stages.
