ROSARIO, Argentina-- Olympic and world champions Netherlands reached their fourth successive women's hockey World Cup final when they beat England 4-3 on penalty strokes after a 1-1 draw on Thursday.
The six-times champions, who scored a massive 25 goals in five pool matches compared to only seven by England, were held scoreless in the opening half for the first time in the tournament.
A hard-working English side went ahead in the 56th minute with a goal by Hannah McLeod from a cross from the right by Crista Cullen.
The Dutch, who had more possession but were kept out by a stern English defence, equalised within five minutes when Maartje Paumen converted a penalty corner to take her tournament tally to 11.
Dutch goalkeeper Joyce Sombroek made two saves from penalty strokes before Kim Lammers converted the stroke that decided the match for the Netherlands.
Hosts Argentina were playing Germany in the other semi-final later.
Earlier, Japan beat Spain 2-1 in the playoff for 11th place in the 12-nation tournament. Kaori Chiba scored the winner with her fifth goal two minutes from time.