The teams were unable to be separated in a game in which both goalies, Rachel Lecky (Midlands) and Amelia Gibson (Canterbury), played starring roles.
Midlands scored first through a penalty corner, with Kate Kernahan finding the back of the net after just five minutes.
Midlands was on the front foot for the rest of the half, but was unable to put any further points on the board as both teams found it hard to gain any momentum.
Pippa Hayward was great on defence for Canterbury, with Midlands trying furiously to find a way through the opposition.
Canterbury made too many unforced errors, and the Midlands defence was too good, not letting Canterbury score in the first half.
Canterbury came out of the break playing all the attacking hockey, but was still unable to get past Midlands goalie Lecky.
Unforced errors on attack were costing both teams as they pushed harder to get past the imposing defences.
Canterbury was finally able to score from a penalty corner with Hannah Mowat hitting the back of the net, levelling the score and taking the game into golden-goal extra time.
Canterbury was awarded a penalty corner one minute into extra time after Midlands was penalised inside the circle.
Canterbury captain Bridget Blackwood stood up and scored the winning goal.
Capital beat Southern 3-1 in the fifth-sixth game, and Auckland beat Northern 3-1 in the third-fourth game.
It was a game of two halves between Northern and Midlands in the men's final.
Northern was able to build a second-half resurgence to take the title with a 4-1 win.
Northern scored first but for the rest of the half it found itself frustrated by Midlands' defence.
Midlands scored the goal of the tournament when Abir Murkherjee ran the length of the field to make a reverse pass for a sliding James Linehan, who deflected the ball into the goal.
For the rest of the half Midlands was on top, making all the play but unable to convert possession into goals.
Northern started the second half a different side. It was able to get passes to stick and the unforced errors which plagued it in the first half were gone.
Northern was playing all the attacking hockey, and it was Midlands' turn to become frustrated and start making simple mistakes which cost it the game.
Corry Bennet scored two goals from penalty corners to take Northern to a 3-1 lead with 20 minutes to go.
From then, it was all Northern as Midlands tried to come from behind but was unable to find a way through the Northern defence.
Northern scored its fourth goal to seal the win.
Southern was beaten 4-2 by Auckland in the third-fourth playoff, while Capital beat Canterbury 3-1 in the fifth-sixth game.
