Ireland Women’s Hockey coach, Seán Dancer, has named his panel for July’s World Cup campaign which gets under way on July 2nd at Amsterdam’s Wagener Stadium.
Five uncapped players are set to make their official debuts in the competition as the post-Olympic evolution of the Green Army continues.
Irish Under-21 captain Caoimhe Perdue, Christina Hamill and Síofra O’Brien all starred in the Junior World Cup in April and impressed – alongside Katie McKee and Charlotte Beggs – in recent challenge matches against Scotland and in Japan to claim their place in the line-up.
The side also features five players from the groundbreaking 2018 run to the World Cup final with Katie Mullan reprising her role as captain.
Ayeisha McFerran was named goalkeeper of the tournament in London and they are among the leaders in the group along with Lena Tice, Róisín Upton and Deirdre Duke.
“The team are excited about our progress and the opportunities that lie ahead over the next month, and know that anything is possible at a World Cup,” Dancer said of the selection.
Ireland to play hosts in opening match
Ireland start off on July 2nd against the hosts and current world number one side, the Netherlands, with the 9,500-strong venue already sold out.
Next on the schedule is a July 5th game against tournament debutantes Chile (world rank: 17) before concluding the group stage on July 6th against Germany (world rank: 5).
Top spot in the group advances direct to the quarter-final stage with the second and third place nations, facing an extra game to reach that stage in the crossover playoffs. Fourth in the group will go into the 9th to 16th place playoffs.
Ireland’s initial run of fixtures takes place in Amsterdam and if they can emulate their 2018 run, the semi-final and final will be played in Terrassa, Spain.
4 games this week
The side conclude their preparations for the World Cup at Belfield this week with the SoftCo Series with Ireland taking on Japan four times. The first game is on Saturday, June 18th (4pm) with the subsequent games on Sunday, June 19th (4pm), Wednesday, June 22nd (5pm) and Thursday, June 23rd (7pm).
Ireland Women’s squad
Ireland senior women’s team for the World Cup; July 1st to 17th in Amsterdam, Netherlands and Terrassa, Spain (club, caps):
Ayeisha McFerran (goalkeeper, SV Kampong (NED), 113)
Elizabeth Murphy (goalkeeper, Loreto, 13)
Caoimhe Perdue (UCC, 0)
Charlotte Beggs (Ulster Elks, 0)
Christina Hamill (Loreto, 0)
Deirdre Duke (Old Alex, 154 )
Ellen Curran (Pembroke, 27)
Érin Getty (Queen’s, 11)
Hannah McLoughlin (UCD, 26)
Katie McKee (Pegasus, 0)
Katie Mullan (captain, Ballymoney, 206)
Lena Tice (Old Alex, 122)
Michelle Carey (UCD, 10)
Naomi Carroll (Catholic Institute, 121)
Róisín Upton (vice-captain, Catholic Institute, 89)
Sarah Hawkshaw (Railway Union, 46)
Sarah McAuley (UCD, 9)
Sarah Torrans (Loreto, 33)
Síofra O’Brien (Loreto, 0)
Zara Malseed (Ards, 7)
Group A schedule (all at Wagener Stadium, Amsterdam; times IRISH)
July 2nd: Ireland v Netherlands, 6.30pm
July 5th: Ireland v Chile, 1pm
July 6th: Ireland v Germany, 3.30pm
