After regulation and extra time went scoreless, United dominated the one-on-one shootout to secure a berth in tomorrow’s preliminary final.

To gain a spot in next Saturday’s grand final, United must defeat minor premiers Lithgow Panthers in Lithgow tomorrow at 2.45pm.

Prior to last weekend’s shock loss to Bathurst City, Panthers had not lost a game this season. 

They proved they are vulnerable after last weekend’s loss.

Parkes had a 1-1 draw with Panthers early in the season before suffering a 3-1 loss in their most recent encounter.

In what has already been an excellent season for the Parkes women, they produced one of their best defensive performances to date in their semi-final win over Souths and will likely need to repeat the performance if they are to beat Panthers tomorrow.

Coach Aaron Huppatz is happy with how his team is playing heading into the important match. 

“Our defence really clicked last Saturday and as a whole team we were very effective structurally,” Huppatz said.

“Last weekend was a real confidence builder. 

“The girls now know how good they can play. 

“If they can take the field with this confidence, they are a real chance of winning,” he said. 

Parkes’ defensive unit will be given plenty of work as Panthers were the team who scored the most goals in the competition this year.

United will hope to improve their penalty corner conversion rate, having worked on that aspect at training this week. 

A clinical performance by their strikers, either getting a shot on goal or a penalty corner, will go a long way to securing a well deserved grand final appearance next week.

The team for Saturday is as follows:

Amy Thornberry, Codie Wakefield, Madelyn Williams, Denise Gersbach, Sarah Melhuish, Bec Cowling, Cass Hodges, Wendy Rix, Louise Hawken, Niamh Dixon, Syann Allen, Janelle Thompson, Jess Ross and Nicole Knox.