THE Hockeyroos, including Gerringong’s Grace Stewart, have claimed the Test series victory over Spain after a nil-all draw on Sunday night.
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A 3-2 in the third game in Perth was enough for Australia, after the other contests all finished in stalemates.
In Sunday's draw, Brooke Peris came the closest for the Hockeyroos when she hit the post in the first quarter.
Spain had their chances, with Berta Bonastre almost scoring a winner in the last quarter when she pushed her shot wide after brilliant lead-up play from Georgina Oliva.
The Hockeyroos will continue their Commonwealth Games preparations with a series of matches against China next month.
“It’s great to come away with a win for the series,” stand-in skipper Kathryn Slattery said.
“We’ve got a lot of learning points to bring out of this series moving forward especially with some big tournaments coming up.”
Peris had the best of the first quarter chances when she hit the woodwork, after Savannah Fitzpatrick had won Australia the first penalty corner of the game.
Australia goalkeeper Rachael Lynch was called upon to deny Berta Bonastre early in the second quarter, while she also did well to deny Carmen Cano.
The Hockeyroos spurned a great chance of their own to take the lead before the main break, when Jordyn Holzberger and Rosie Malone combined to set up Grace Stewart who pushed her shot wide.
Ash Wells denied Lucia Jimenez from close range in the best chance of the third, before Oliva and Bonastre combined in the 48th minute to almost score.
Madi Ratcliffe laid off for Slattery who fired wide as Australia came close in the last, although they survived a late scare when Marta Grau pounced on a loose ball inside the shooting circle, only to miss the target.
“It’s obviously disappointing to not get the win. We were probably a bit sluggish coming off the game yesterday,” Slattery said.
“We put together some really good patches of play going forward and if we were a bit more diligent up front we probably would’ve come away with the win.”
Australia will continue to ramp up their Commonwealth Games preparations with a series against China next month, before the final squad for the Gold Coast tournament is announced.
The Hockeyroos have four of the five Commonwealth Games gold medals since the sport was introduced, including a dramatic penalty shoot-out win over England in Glasgow four years ago.
