The Dogs' 2-1 victory over the previously unbeaten Auckland side secured the southerners a semifinal spot from a precarious position before the final round-robin games yesterday.
The Dogs went up early through a Kane Russell goal in the sixth minute and kept the Auckland midfield, stacked full of internationals, at bay.
Southern Dogs coach Dave Ross said the midfield battle was the clincher for the result.
''When you can live and breathe with Auckland in the midfield and get some parity and dominate in certain periods, you know you are going to go all right and we were able to do that,'' Ross said.
Jeremy Morris added the Dogs' second goal just before time was up, before Auckland scored from a penalty corner after the final whistle.
''To be honest, we were very, very good for large chunks of the game. We probably had more scoring opportunities than they did. The boys hung in there really well against a quality side.''
Ross praised Nick Ross, Russell, Blair Tarrant and Callum Bailey for their efforts, but said the whole side stood up.
''The boys were outstanding, every single one of them.''
The Dogs, and all other teams, have a rest day today to get over niggles before the Dogs take on Midlands in the semifinals tomorrow.
Auckland and Capital meet in the other semifinal.
In the women's competition, the Southern Storm conceded three first-quarter goals to Auckland, eventually going down 5-0.
The Storm will play the fifth-placed team, Central, in the bottom half of the draw tomorrow and the winner playing the victor between the sixth and seventh-placed sides, North Harbour and Capital, on Sunday.
The losers will play off for seventh and eighth.
