The Otago men suffered their first loss at the National Hockey Championships in Palmerston North yesterday.
A resolute Waikato edged the defending champions 3-2 in a shootout.
The teams were locked 1-1 at fulltime.
Thomas Marchant scored two minutes into the game for Waikato, but Otago responded late in the quarter through strike James Nicolson.
Neither side could find the back of the net again until the shootout.
Otago missed three of their five attempts which left Waikato’s Tim Greenwood with the opportunity to seal the win and he beat goalie Hugh Nixon to clinch victory for his team.
Despite the loss, Otago topped pool A and will play the winner of pool B in the early game tomorrow.
It is a rest day today.
The defending champions beat Northland 3-1 and Wellington 3-1 in their opening two games.
In the women’s tournament, Otago held off Hawke’s Bay in a scoreless 60 minutes of regular time but fell 3-2 in a shootout to leave them winless so far.
