When it comes down to a shoot-out - you win some, you lose some.
Southern sides experienced mixed emotions at North Harbour Hockey Stadium yesterday.
The Dogs emerged victorious, beating North Harbour 3-2 in a shoot-out after the game was level 0-0 at fulltime.
It is a great result for the Southern men's team hoping to pick up points against a team coach Dave Ross described as a quality opponent.
It has also helped the Dogs remain firmly in the top four.
They have a rest day today and will play Midlands tomorrow before completing the round-robin phase with a match against winless Northland on Thursday.
A win in that game should be enough for the Dogs to secure a semifinal berth.
The Southern Storm experienced the flip side of a shoot-out, losing to Northland 3-1.
But it did secure its first point in the league for holding the competition leader to 2-2 at fulltime.
The Storm has made big improvements since being dispatched 9-1 by Canterbury during the opening weekend.
The Southerners were ahead of the game twice.
They scored first through Paige Lane but Northland responded later in the opening quarter through Ella Gunson.
Alana-Rose Miller put the Storm back in front midway through the second period but Northland's Jess MacAllister found an equaliser shortly before the end of the third period.
In the women's matches yesterday, Auckland beat Canterbury 2-1, Midlands defeated Capital 6-5 in a shoot-out after the score was 2-2 at fulltime and North Harbour downed Central 3-2 after the fulltime score was 1-1.
In other men's matches, Canterbury beat Northland 3-1, Auckland downed Central 3-2 and Midlands crushed Capital 3-0.
